Child pervert turned himself into the police

A Wishaw man claimed he stumbled across indecent images of children while trying to book a holiday to Russia on the internet.

Robert Boyd said curiosity had got the better of him and he’d viewed “some sick stuff ”.

Boyd, 53, of Mafeking Street, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court last week.

He admitted possessing indecent images of children on a laptop computer at his home between October 2008 and December 2017.

Jennifer McLaren, prosecuting, said around 400 images featuring girls aged around three to 15 were found on the device.

The court heard the offence came to light after Boyd spoke to a psychiatrist at University Hospital Wishaw.

Ms McLaren explained: “The accused was seeking an assessment of his mental health.

“His former partner disclosed to the psychiatrist that Boyd had been viewing indecent images of children on his phone and laptop for approximately three years.

“Boyd was advised to speak to the police which he did that same day.

“He told officers he had been looking for holidays on a Russian website when he came across porn.

“It showed, in his own words, some stick stuff, including pictures of children.

“Boyd said he had looked initially for porn but curiosity had got the better of him and he had accessed pictures of children under 16.

“He told the police he looked at sites but came out of them as it didn’t feel right.

“However, he admitted looking at sites every other day for an hour and a half at a time.”

Sheriff Douglas Brown called for a background report and a risk assessment on Boyd, who has no previous convictions.

Sentence was deferred until September 25 and he was placed on the sex offenders’ register.