Man had indecent film images

A Dunfermline man has appeared in court and been sentenced for possessing indecent movies of children.

Police carried out a search of the home of Kevin Mackie after receiving information from their cyber-crime unit and obtaining a warrant.

Mackie, 44, of Petrel Way, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that between June 18 and 19 at his home he was in possession of indecent images of children.

Defence solicitor Ralph McCran said his client had lost his job after his guilty plea but had since found another job as a network engineer.

He said his client lived on his own and one of the issues he faced was “isolation”.

He said: “He accepts there is no excuse for this offending and accepts responsibility for what he did.”

Sheriff Charles MacNair told Mackie: “Downloading child pornography using file-sharing software is a very serious matter and is one that the court has to deal with all too frequently.”

However, he also said that he was only able to sentence Mackie for the images referred to in the charge, even though he had admitted he had deleted others.

Sheriff MacNair imposed a community payback order with three years’ supervision and a requirement Mackie undertake 180 hours of unpaid work.

Mackie was also placed on the sex offenders register for three years.