Volunteer had illegal images

A DISGRACED entrepreneur who was caught with obscene child abuse images was a regular first aid volunteer at a top Dundee school, it has emerged.

David Rankine was locked up this month after police uncovered a cache of photos and videos featuring children as young as four on computers at his home.

The 42-year-old, a former director at a leading website development firm, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody before sentencing next month.

Rankine was a regular volunteer at Dundee High School during sports events, where he administered first aid to boys of all ages.

A spokesman for the school said: “We are not aware of any suggestion or evidence, at this stage, or any issue or concern regarding the conduct of Mr Rankine in his capacity as a volunteer.”

He added: “The school has strict child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures in place and as part of due diligence, require risk assessment and safeguarding protocols to be observed at all times.”

A spokeswoman for St Andrew’s First Aid added: “While we cannot comment on any individual volunteers, we have the relevant safeguards and processes in place and take all matters pertaining to child protection extremely seriously.”

Rankine was better known as a driving force at his Dundee-based web company, which he helped relaunch in 1999.

The firm now counts several bigname multinational firms among its clients.

Rankine resigned as director several weeks after his arrest in January 2021, having taken no active role in the firm for some time.

But he never told his colleagues about the real reason behind his departure.

Bosses said they only found out when a report on his court appearance was published on Monday.

They confirmed the company’s 100-strong workforce has since been offered support.

A spokesman said: “We are all utterly shocked and appalled by the revelations around Mr Rankine which we learned from the article in Monday morning’s Courier.

“We condemn this in the strongest possible terms.”

He said: “Mr Rankine has not been involved in the business since 2018 and resigned as a director in March 2021.

“We were not aware of the reasons for the resignation as Mr Rankine refused to disclose this.

“However, given his lack of input into the business in recent years we were happy to accept.”

The company statement continued: “This was a tremendous shock to read this disturbing list of offences and our primary concern is first and foremost to our team and to anyone affected.

“We reached out to our team immediately to offer our support.

“We are glad to see that justice will be delivered appropriately for Mr Rankine’s appalling crimes.”

Rankine, of Kirkton of Auchterhouse, admitted a charge of possessing indecent images at his then-home in Henry Cotton Place, Carnoustie, between December 24 2008 and January 21 2021.

The court heard police recovered around 750 illicit files, with about one-third at the highest end (Category A) of the courts’ obscenity scale.

Many depicted boys as young as four years old being sexually abused by adults and other children.

Police raided his home and seized several hard drives, phones and laptops after a tip-off about illegal downloads.

In an unusual move, Sheriff Euan Duthie paused the hearing for three hours so that Rankine could “get his affairs in order” before remanding him.

He will be sentenced on July 14.

Rankine was a first aid volunteer at Dundee High School.