Man had stash of sick abuse images

Perform in Perth supremo found with worst kind of pictures

A former councillor and the driving force behind the Perform in Perth music festival was found with images of the worst kind of child abuse, a court heard yesterday. Michael Jamieson’s sick stash was discovered when police raided his home following a tip-off. They seized multiple hard drives and USB sticks and forensics officers found more than 200 abuse images and an illegal video featuring a child. Jamieson quit the council when he was charged, having been elected as a Conservative representative for Perth City South just months before. He had been secretary of the popular music festival which annually attracts thousands of children to Perth from across Tayside and Fife and was president of Perth Rotary Club. The 69-year-old of Buchan Road, Perth, pled guilty to possessing the images between August 2014 and April 2016. He will be sentenced at a later date but was placed on the sex offenders register and banned from the internet.

Police found more than 200 indecent images of children and an illegal video on a former Perth councillor’s computer equipment, a court heard yesterday. Perth Sheriff Court was told how officers obtained a warrant to scour the home of Michael Jamieson, 69, of the city’s Buchan Drive, following a tip-off from the public that he had indecent images. The police took away computer equipment including a tower, eight USB sticks, a Synology hard-drive, a White Cloud hard-drive and another computer that contained two hard-drives. The court heard they found a total of 219 indecent images, with 55 being classed as being in category A – the worst type of abuse images – 76 in category B and 88 in category C. Officers also found one video on the computer equipment which depicted a child aged between five and seven engaged in a sexual act with an adult male. Depute fiscal Carol Whyte told the court: “Several officers arrived at the property on September 21 last year when the accused and his partner were at home. “When police told the couple why they were there, the accused told his partner, ‘I looked at a couple of photographs’.” Ms Whyte told the court Jamieson was a former Scottish Conservative councillor for the Perth City South ward, and was also a former president of Perth Rotary Club. “The accused was also involved in the children’s Perform In Perth music festival,” she added. Jamieson admitted that between August 8 2014 and April 28 2016, at his home address on Buchan Drive, Perth, he had indecent images of children. He also admitted that between the same dates and same address he was in possession of indecent images of children. Sentence was deferred until August 20 for background reports. Jamieson was placed on the sex offenders register. He was given bail with a condition that he does not use the internet.

Picture: Steve MacDougall. Michael Jamieson served Perth City South.