Galston man who downloaded child abuse images spared jail

A Galston man who downloaded indecent images of children as young as two has avoided jail.

Over 1,300 pictures were found on Robert Davidson’s phone, after he handed it into a Job Centre worker who was helping him with his CV.

After seeing the image of the young girl on the device, the employee contacted police, leading to officers obtaining a search warrant for Davidson’s home in Galston, East Ayrshire.

The 57-year-old tried to escape justice by stashing the phone behind a picture frame in his bedroom.

But officers found it during a search of the property - and a forensic analysis of his phone revealed he had downloaded 1,359 indecent images, some featuring children as young as two.

The majority of the images had been deleted from the phone but were recovered by specialists, and 176 were found to be the most extreme there is.

Last month, at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, Davidson admitted two charges of downloading and possessing child abuse images, between January and March last year.

Sentence was deferred for background reports to be prepared and he returned to the dock on Monday to learn his fate.

Defence solicitor Kay McFarlane said Davidson saw himself as a victim and had been subject to "what can only be described as a campaign of abuse" by vigilantes after his offences came to light.

She said his car had been written off after it was trashed by four thugs, said he'd had excrement thrown at his house windows and was being evicted by his landlord following a Facebook campaign to have him moved home.

And she said the loner had no friends and was only left with his mum for support after being disowned by his sister because of his actions.

Sheriff Shirley Foran could have jailed Davidson for the offences but opted to spare him prison and placed him on a Community Payback Order (CPO) - despite social workers raising concerns over his ability to comply with a CPO.

As she placed him on the Sex Offenders' Register for three years, told him to do 180 hours' unpaid work in the next six months she said: “You're sorry for yourself and not one of the hapless child victims of your offending.

"I could, if required, jail you without a second thought.

"If you do not comply with the Community Payback Order, clearly your willingness and ability to cooperate is concerning, i will revoke the order and you will be jailed."

Davidson will also be supervised by social workers for the next three years and has to attend the Moving Forward Making Changes Programme, which helps sex offenders change their ways.