1,200 sign petition to revoke Burnside’s pension

Almost 1,200 people have signed a petition asking for a former Oban police officer to lose his pension.

Daryll Burnside was sentenced to eight months in prison last week after downloading 60 child porn images and videos, including one of a baby.

He will also be subject to the notification requirement of the Sexual Offences Act for a period of 10 years.

At the time of his arrest, the 50-year-old was a serving police officer in Oban but has since retired.

Andrew Sandilands started the petition, which has 1,180 signatures. He wrote: ‘He should have been suspended and his pension withdrawn on a guilty plea or verdict.

‘I want to protest that a convicted police officer is being allowed this pension which should be withdrawn and possibly given to a child abuse charity. No police officer should be allowed to abuse his duty and live comfortably ever after.’

Sentencing Burnside, Sheriff Patrick Hughes said: ‘It is no exaggeration that people who are alive today would not be if not for the bravery you have shown as a police officer.

‘I would have been persuaded by your solicitor but for the presence of category A images which involved the penetration of a child. These images involve the greatest amount of suffering for children. There requires to be a deterrent. Only a custodial sentence is appropriate.’

Following the eight-month sentence, a spokesman for NSPCC Scotland said: ‘As a serving police officer, Burnside was in a position of great trust in the community and would have been clear on the catastrophic impact sexual abuse has on victims.

‘But he ignored his responsibilities to accumulate a sickening collection of child abuse images.’

When asked if an offence of this nature could lead to a police pension being forfeited, a Scottish Police Authority (SPA) spokesperson said: ‘Pension provision for police officers are set out in regulations.

‘The SPA will not comment in individual pension arrangements.’