Sheriff erred in child abuse case

Appeal judge says evidence should not have been ruled inadmissible

A Dundee sheriff was wrong to say evidence gathered by a group of self-styled paedophile hunters was inadmissible before the case went to trial, an appeal court has ruled.

Sheriff Alastair Brown ruled evidence gathered by the Keeping Kids Safe group in the case of Paul Potelle was inadmissible after a minute objecting to the Crown evidence on the basis it had been unlawfully obtained.

They had collected text messages he sent to adults posing as children.

Potelle’s solicitor also submitted a minute intimating a preliminary plea in bar of trial – calling for the case to be abandoned – on the grounds of oppression.

Sheriff Brown said the group, which had travelled to Dundee to confront a man they suspected of being a child abuser, had not acted in good faith and its actions had been “unlawful”.

But the procurator fiscal launched a successful appeal against Sheriff Brown’s decision and the case will now be passed to another sheriff to be reheard.

Appeal judge Sheriff Norman McFadyen ruled that Sheriff Brown had erred in ruling the evidence was inadmissible during the first diet of a summary procedure.

Instead, it ruled the evidence should have been considered once the case reached trial, at which point it would be determined whether or not the text messages sent were admissible.

Potelle, 47, had been charged with sending indecent social media messages to what he believed to be a 13-yearold girl and a child under 13 between May 22 and August 22 2017.