Man had indecent images

A 25-year-old man living on Islay has admitted having indecent images on his mobile phone.

Amongst them were two which were assessed as category B.

Scott Ben Simpson, of 17 Mansefield Road, Port Ellen, Islay, admitted that, on various occasions between August 2 and September 29 2020, he had indecent images of children in his possession.

Procurator fiscal depute James Dunbar told Campbeltown Sheriff Court in March that when police officers visited Simpson's home address with a search warrant, ‘a mobile telephone was recovered from the bedroom of the accused'.

He added that ‘indecent images were noted to be present'.

Sheriff Patrick Hughes ordered that a Criminal Justice Social Work report and Restriction of Liberty Order assessment be prepared on Simpson.

When the case was called at the April sitting of the court, Simpson's defence agent Paul Keenan said that the 25-year-old's actions ‘had been a consequence of curiosity' and that he was at low risk of re-offending.

Sheriff Hughes told Simpson his conduct was ‘reprehensible'.

Simpson was given a Community Payback Order of 18 months' supervision, during which he must work to address the cause of his behaviour and rehabilitation.

He must also complete 208 hours of unpaid work within 12 months.

He may have only one internet-capable device which must be available for scrutiny and refrain from deleting the internet history of the device.

He may have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 17 and must comply with the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act for 18 months.