Prison for repeat offender caught with abuse images

Asex offender from Tayside who began amassing a collection of extreme abuse material after being released from prison has been jailed for five years.

Brian Clark, 52, was caught with photos and videos that included child abuse and acts of bestiality.

A judge told Clark at the High Court in Edinburgh: “So far as I can tell, your plea aside, you remain unremorseful and seek to minimise the level of your culpability.”

Lord Weir said the sex offender appeared to have begun committing his latest offences “almost immediately” on his release from his last High Court sentence.

The judge imposed an extended sentence totalling nine years on Clark, made up of five years of imprisonment followed by a further four-year period on licence when he can be returned to jail if he breaches its conditions.

Lord Weir told him that the term of imprisonment was reduced from six-anda-half years to reflect his earlier plea of guilty tendered at Perth Sheriff Court.

Clark, formerly of Old Crieff Road, Aberfeldy, admitted possessing obscene images of children between September 15 2022 and March 14 2023 and taking indecent images between July 14 2022 and March 14 the following year.

He also pled guilty to a further charge of possessing extreme pornography.

A total of 1,091 child sexual exploitation images and videos were found on phones and a laptop.

Almost 300 of the files recovered were considered to be at the most serious level.

The total running time for 25 videos was nearly 19 hours.

Following his release from his last jail term, police found thumbnail images of what appeared to be indecent photos of children on Clark’s phone.

Officers also discovered a laptop hidden under a sofa, which Clark claimed he bought in a second-hand shop in Perth.

A locked suitcase was found which contained a packet of nappies, a dummy and a child’s make-up kit.

Clark was previously given a seven-year extended sentence at the High Court in 2016 after police discovered hundreds of indecent files on a computer.

Defence counsel Jonathan Crowe said a week after his release, his latest offending commenced.

Mr Crowe said it was

“It is clear this man requires assistance from professional bodies to remove the risk that he poses

clear from reports prepared on Clark that he required “a strong degree of supervision, education and rehabilitation”.

“It is clear this man requires assistance from professional bodies to remove the risk that he poses at present of recidivism,” he said.

He said Clark previously worked as a waiter but now does not have good health.

He added: “He has also struggled with his mental health since childhood.”

He continued: “He had a very unfortunate and dysfunctional upbringing.

“He was taken into local authority care.”

Clark was placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

‘UNREMORSEFUL’: The judge commented on Clark’s attempts to minimise his guilt.