Serving a five year jail sentence may not rehabilitate former Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) scholar Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, who was convicted in London for child porn charges.

The Imperial College mathematics student was sent to jail after he plead guilty to charges of possessing, distributing and producing still and moving pornographic images of children at a London court this week.

However, studies have shown that locking him up would actually make it worse for both him and potential victims, forensic psychiatrist Bill Glaser wrote in the Australian Institute of Criminology Research and Public Policy Series No 12 on Paedophilia Policy and Prevention.