Sex offender (69) fined over registration

Retired accountant blamed poor mobile reception at remote home

A retired Perthshire chartered accountant, fined £15,000 last year after he was caught with a huge stash of indecent images of children at his home, has been hit with another hefty cash penalty after he failed to register as a sex offender with Police Scotland.

Sixty-nine-year-old grandfather Malcolm Kerr, of Easter Ballachraggan, Dunkeld, claimed poor phone reception at his remote home resulted in him not receiving calls from police.

He was fined £1000 at Perth Sheriff Court after admitting that between December 30, 2016, and January 6, 2017, he failed to comply with the annual registration procedure under the Sex Offenders’ legislation.

His name had been put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years in February, 2016 - and he was ordered to pay £15,000 within three months - after he downloaded thousands of indecent images between March 25 and June 15, 2013.

He also pled guilty to having indecent images between March, 2013, and November, 2014.

He was caught after a tip-off and when interviewed about the vile hoard - the videos had a total running time of more than 60 hours - he claimed he had downloaded much of the material while working in Switzerland, where it was legal to do so.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told him that the large fine would eventually find its way into the public purse and could be used to help track down other paedophiles.

The sheriff also ordered the forfeiture of four laptop computers and hard drives, seized by police when they went to his home.

At his latest court appearance, depute fiscal Nicola Gillespie said despite several calls made to him at his home, Kerr had failed to comply with the terms of the annual registration process.

When he was traced at his home by officers on January 6, he said: “I was sitting at home - I wasn’t committing any sexual offences.”

Solicitor Steve Lafferty said: “He resides in a very remote setting and that explains in some measure why he didn’t respond to the phone.”

Imposing the fine, Sheriff William Wood told him: “Your obligations are very serious - and you have to register with the police.

“It’s possible, if you offend again in this way, you might go to prison.”

Kerr was previously banned from driving with excess alcohol in 2015.

He was branded “arrogant” after being caught twice in the space of a week.