Jailed for abuse pics

A man has been jailed for a year after being caught with more than 13,000 images showing child sex abuse.

Robert Davidson admitted the vile collection was his after police officers placed everyone in his home under suspicion.

Davidson, 49, now of Birkshaw Brae, Gowkthrapple, was sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court last Thursday.

He admitted downloading indecent images at his former home in Kethers Lane, Motherwell.

Mairi-Clare McMillan, prosecuting, said police were given information from a national agency that images were being accessed from the address.

Officers went there with a search warrant on March 16 last year.

Ms McMillan told the court:“All present in the house were cautioned, but the accused stated‘Wait, wait. Look, it’s me. Ok?’

“An iPad mini was recovered that the accused admitted was his. It was sent for forensic analysis.”

The device contained 334 images in Category A – the highest level of depravity. There were 389 Category B pictures and 12,998 classed as

Category C. Davidson has no previous convictions.

Defence agent Jackson Bateman said a combination of mental health issues, alcohol and depression had“given rise to the offences”.

Mr Bateman pointed out that his client had pleaded guilty at an early stage and has been in no further trouble.

He suggested a community payback order with a period of supervision could be imposed as an alternative to prison.

But Sheriff Douglas Brown said only custody was appropriate.

He was particularly concerned by the number of Category A images,“depicting the most serious and depraved forms of abuse”.

The sheriff told Davidson:“Viewing and downloading indecent images is part of the process of child sex abuse. It creates demand for this material.

“The sentence has to reflect the nature and extent of the abuse in the images.”

Sheriff Brown reduced the sentence from 16 months because of Davidson’s guilty plea. He will be on the sex offenders’register for 10 years.