Doctor Escapes Jail After Being Caught With Indecent Images Of Children

Published 25th Mar 2015

A hospital doctor has been spared jail after he was caught with hundreds of indecent images of children. Brian Morris, 29, was snared when police discovered his vile haul at the rented flat he stayed in Glasgow. The Glasgow University graduate's laptop was analysed and almost 500 still images of children were found. There were also 23 videos found on the computer of the young doctor. Morris, who is now a patient at Gartnavel hospital, pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to downloading and possessing the images between November 2013 and March 2014. Sheriff Daniel Scullion handed Morris a community payback order with the condition he will be supervised for two years and that he is on the sex offenders' register during that time. The court heard that at the time Morris was employed as a doctor at Glasgow Royal Infirmary doing a research fellowship in relation to pancreatic cancer. He had also worked at the hospital as well as the Golden Jubilee hospital, Clydebank and Gartnavel hospital in the city as a surgical trainee. The court was told police were granted a search warrant to search his house in Hyndland, Glasgow, the flat he lived in at the time. Officers took a laptop which was examined by an expert and indecent images, still and moving, were recovered. The court was told that 481 pictures were recovered, ranging from level one, to level four. There were no images at level five - the highest and most extreme. Of the 23 moving images found on the laptop most ranged from level one to level four, with one at level five. The court heard Morris - who is currently suspended - made no comment during his police interview and when cautioned and charged by officers he made no response. Defence counsel Louise Arrol said her client has since been diagnosed with a depressive disorder and Asperger Syndrome. She added: "It is unlikely he will ever practise as a doctor again."