Lorry driver had over 650 sick images

A Hamilton lorry driver caught with indecent images of children has been placed on the sex offenders’register for three years.

Stuarttester was reported to the police after an assistant in a phone shop stumbled across photos.

Tester, 52, of Elmbank Crescent, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court ontuesday, September 22.

He admitted possessing a total of 664 indecent images between January 2014 and April 2018.

Morag Mclintock, prosecuting, said the photos featured girls thought to be aged between two years and 12.

They were found ontester’s phone, a laptop computer and an ipad.

Ms Mclintock saidtester had asked staff at a phone shop to transfer data from one device to another.

An assistant checked progress at one point and was puzzled as to why the switch was taking so long.

It emerged there were 3300 photos in his gallery – and 260 of these were indecent images of children.

The police were alerted and officers searched his home.

There were 135 indecent images on his laptop and 269 on an ipad.

After studying background reports, Sheriff Linda Nicolson decided not to jailtester and instead imposed a community payback order on him.

She expressed concern that he didn’t accept the gravity of the offence.

The sheriff told him:“this is a very serious matter, but you seem to have difficulty accepting the extent of it.

“That is one of the issues that requires work with you to make sure there is no real risk of you re-offending in this way.”

Sheriff Nicolson noted thattester was assessed as unsuitable for unpaid community work on health grounds.

She said he will be supervised by social workers for three years, but warned:“it is important to understand that this is an alternative to custody.

“If you do not comply with this order it will be revoked and it is clear that custody would be imposed.”