Latest Offenders Fife

Description

An evil Scots rapist has been jailed for 'despicable' sex attacks against a number of victims.

Stephen Whyte was caged for 15 years following a sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, January 5. The 47-year-old was convicted of a number of sexual and violent offences, including rape.

The crimes took place in the Fife area between 2006 and 2020. Officers say Whyte 'took advantage' of his victims, who were praised for their immense courage in reporting his abhorrent actions.

The outcome of the trial should "encourage survivors of sexual abuse to get in touch with police as reports are sure to be rigorously probed, regardless of their historic nature", cops added.

Detective Inspector Frank Keegan of Police Scotland said: Stephen Whyte took advantage of his victims over a number of years and he will now face the consequences of his despicable actions in prison.

His victims were incredibly brave to come forward and report Whyte, then give evidence in court. Our thoughts remain with them and I hope that todays sentencing will give them some comfort and help them move forward.

We remain committed to supporting victims of sexual crimes and thoroughly investigating those responsible by bringing them to justice, no matter how much time has passed. I would urge people to come forward to police and report it. They can be assured of being fully supported by officers and partner agencies.

Description

The boss of an East Neuk convenience store sexually assaulted a 15-year-old customer in direct view of two of her friends.

Rajiv Sharma’s brazen assault of the teenage girl was also in the line of sight of his own CCTV camera.

Sharma, the boss of A&A Stores in Anstruther, reached out and touched the teenager as she walked up an aisle on June 21 this year.

At Dundee Sheriff Court, Sheriff Francis Gill convicted Sharma, of Woodside Avenue in Dundee, of the assault after a trial.

The court heard evidence from the 15-year-old through a video link, in which she described Sharma, 49, touching her abdomen.

Security footage from inside the shop was played in court.

It showed the girl and Sharma walking from opposite ends of an aisle towards each other.

As Sharma passed, he extended an arm and touched the girl’s body.

Two of her friends were directly behind her and in eyeline with the assault.

However, these witnesses were not called to give evidence in court.

Victim’s mum describes distress

The girl’s mother also gave evidence about the girl’s condition when she came home.

The 42-year-old said it had been a school day and the girl usually returned home after 9pm.

“[She] phoned me at home on my mobile, just before 9pm – about 8.50pm.

“Obviously I’d had the phone call.

“She was very distressed, crying and wanting to get her clothes off.

“I tried to calm her down.

“I got her to talk to me.

“I sat with her, I said to her everything was going to be okay.”

The girl’s mother contacted police after the discussion.

Crown witnesses ‘credible and reliable’

His solicitor David Duncan suggested there was no case to answer as allegations which appeared in the initial charge that Sharma touched the girl’s breast and made a sexual comment, were not raised in evidence.

However, Sharma was convicted of an amended charge of sexually assaulting the girl in his High Street shop by handling her abdomen.

Sheriff Gill placed Sharma on the Sex Offenders Register.

He said: “In this case, I found the Crown witnesses to be credible and reliable.

“The evidence is clear that you touched the complainer on the stomach.”

The sheriff deferred sentencing until January for reports.

Description

Craig Slezas, 33, was caged on Tuesday after being convicted of sexually assaulting four women during an eight year long campaign of offending.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how three of his victims were subjected to rape.

Slezas, of Castle Street, Crail, had denied a string of charges during a trial. However, he was convicted of a total of 11 other offences committed between January 2008 and January 2016.

Making reference to a report detailing Slezas’s background, Lord Arthurson said: “You have not demonstrated any insight into your offending nor have you shown any remorse to the complainers. During your interview you engaged in what could be best described as victim blaming.

“The only appropriate disposal in this case is the imposition of a significant custodial sentence. I am very concerned about the risk you pose to the public and especially to women.”

Slezas had faced a total of 24 charges but several were withdrawn by the Crown. He was acquitted of two offences following the jury's verdict last month - sentence had been deferred for the court to obtain reports.

One of the women told the court of how she felt disgusted by the behaviour of Slezas, who worked as a greenkeeper at the Fairmont Hotel’s course in St Andrews.

Describing how he raped her, the woman told the court that Slezas ignored her requests not to have sex whilst at a house in Fife.

She told prosecutor Peter Ferguson KC: “I told him I wasn’t in the mood. He kept on trying but I said I wasn’t interested. I just froze He asked me why I was crying. I just cried.”

One of Slezas’ victims was a teenage girl who he molested in a car in St Andrews when she was aged 14. He went on to have unlawful under age sex with the girl at Craigtoun Park, in a vehicle parked at a layby near Dairsie and at a beach.

Slezas later shouted and swore at her and sexually assaulted and raped her at a house in Ansthruther on two occasions.

He also abducted another woman at a house in Crail when he locked the door preventing her from leaving, and assaulted her by seizing her by the body and grabbing her bag. He subjected her to a further assault and rape at a house in Cupar.

Slezas committed a further rape on another woman at a house in Fort William in the Highlands in January 2014. His final crime was committed in January 2016 when he abducted a woman in a car in Methil as he shouted and acted aggressively, refusing to stop and driving erratically resulting in her hitting the dashboard.

Slezas observed court proceedings via video link. Defence advocate Neil Murray KC said Slezas was “effectively” the sole carer for his mother.

Mr Murray also told the court that his client had learning difficulties. He added: “He does not seek to produce any sort of explanation for his behaviour. The lack of serious insight maybe the result of his intellectual difficulties.”

Lord Arthurson also placed Slezas on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Description

A Glenrothes sex offender was told his “deviant” sexual interests are legal – so long as he does not act on them.

Richard Heatherill was jailed for a catalogue of offending against multiple teenage girls.

The 24-year-old’s offending culminated in having sex with one of them before she turned 16.

At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court he turned to his weeping mother and mouthed “I love you” as he was jailed.

‘Underage sex’ was consenting but illegal

Jonathan Crow KC, defending, said his client’s offending occurred when he was 19 or 20 years old.

“These offences are serious, there’s no escaping that,” he said.

“The complainer was some age short of her 16th birthday and whilst consenting, he committed the offence of what is sometimes referred to as ‘underage sex’.

“He accepts full responsibility for these offences.”

"It’s not an offence to have these issues and its not an offence to have these interests – it is unlawful to act on them… Children under 16 are off limits. Full stop."

— Sheriff Alistair Brown.

He said the offences were committed against a background of psychiatric issues, including gender dysphoria, which had seen Heatherill previously referred to a specialist sexual health clinic.

The dysphoria had led to him being bullied and withdrawing into his bedroom, where he spent time browsing the internet and developed his “deviant” interests, which he then acted upon with the teenage girls.

However Mr Crow said Heatherhill had since had help to resolve these issues.

He added: “Mr Heatherill is apologetic for his actions.

“He’s accepted the impact he’s had on his victims and what he did was, in his words, bad.”

‘Deviant sexual interests’

Sheriff Alistair Brown said a social work report had laid out the nature of Heatherill’s sexual interests.

He said: “I recognise and accept that you struggle, or at least suffer psychiatric issues, as a result of your gender dysphoria and it’s right that the court should be sympathetic of that.

“Sympathetic though I am to your difficulties the fact remains that you did what you did.

“It’s not an offence to have these issues and its not an offence to have these interests – it is unlawful to act on them.

“It’s significant that you did not act on them in relation to an adult woman, who may be better equipped to deal with them, you acted on them with a child.

“Children under 16 are off limits. Full stop.

“You subjected this child to what the report describes as ‘deviant sexual interests’.”

Placed on Register for decade

Heatherill admitted sending sexual messages and images to four girls, all between the ages of 13 and 16, at locations across Fife between October 2017 and April 2019.

He further admitted engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old at Eastfield Industrial Estate, Glenrothes, on an occasion between September 1 and October 17 2017.

Sheriff Alistair Brown jailed Heatherill, of Beechwood Drive, Glenrothes, for 21 months.

He also placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Description

A Fife man caught with a stash of sick child abuse images and videos has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Scott Menzies, 30, previously admitted having the vile content on his phone and tablet devices.

It showed children, aged between infants and 16 years old, engaged in extreme sexual activity.

He appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week to be sentenced.

Defence lawyer Chris Sneddon said Menzies felt “disgusted” children were abused in the production of the material and had recently attempted to take his own life and ended up in hospital.

Mr Sneddon said Menzies’ position is he did not obtain sexual gratification from the images.

Sheriff Susan Duff said she did not accept this and stressed most of the images were category A – the most graphic kind.

The sheriff sentenced Menzies to a two-year offender supervision requirement with a conduct requirement, as part of a community payback order.

He was also told to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years.

The sheriff told him: “Be under no illusion this is a direct alternative to custody and any failure to comply… will result in your case coming back to court”.

Suicide bid during police search

The court heard previously Menzies attempted suicide as police searched his Cowdenbeath home in April last year following a tip-off about indecent images of children being linked to the internet there.

He was taken to Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital.

Procurator fiscal depute Laura McManus said Menzies’ partner had arrived home during the search and he apologised to her before trying to end his life. Police then intervened.

He claimed he had been sent images by others with whom he had been in contact and wanted to “out them as sexual offenders”.

Ms McManus said the tablet device contained 24 indecent images and 107 videos – 99 of which were the most graphic kind – of children.

The mobile phone contained 123 indecent images of children, aged between two and 16.

The court heard the sexual content of the images and videos was extreme.

The fiscal depute said Menzies, while posing as a teenage girl, had also used a mobile phone to send indecent images to another social media user, who purported to be a 16-year-old female.

In July, Menzies pled guilty to distributing or showing indecent photos of children at his home in Cowdenbeath’s Broad Street in January 2018.

He also admitted taking or permitting to be taken or making indecent photos of children, between December 2017 and April 2021.

Interest in hunter groups

Defence lawyer Alan Davie said in July that Menzies initially developed an interest in paedophile hunter groups.

Through engaging on the community’s websites, images and videos became available and he found himself “deeper into a mire of obtaining this material”.

Mr Davie said Menzies suffered from depression and this became an outlet for him.

The solicitor added: “It’s something he completely regrets and he has a notable level of shame in relation to that.”

Description

A fugitive Fife sex offender who went on the run before a court could punish him has finally faced justice in the Highlands.

Robert Clark, from Inverkeithing, had previously admitted two charges of indecent assault and one of intentionally causing another to look at a sexual image.

He failed to show up for his sentencing hearing at Tain Sheriff Court on November 16 2020.

It led to high-profile appeals from Police Scotland for information on Clark’s whereabouts and warnings to the public not to approach him.

The 59-year-old continued to evade police until this summer when he was arrested in Fife.

He appeared via video link from custody to be sentenced for crimes dating back to 2010 and 2013.

‘Emotional breakdown’

Solicitor Patrick O’Dea, representing Clark, told the court his client had a “personal crisis” and “emotional breakdown” and started using illicit drugs before he fled.

He said: “He does regret not coming forward to resolve these matters.

“He told me this morning that he thought about it on many occasions”.

Mr O’Dea explained Clark had been living with a friend but that friend had “not been given the background” of his situation.

A previous hearing had been told Clark had “flaked out” before his sentencing and “went around avoiding coming to court.”

Fugitive lacked ‘courage’ to appear

“He does wish to sincerely apologise, for what it is worth.

“He just didn’t have the courage to come forward sooner,” Mr O’Dea said.

He explained his client had been fearful of being taken immediately into custody, an outcome Sheriff Gary Aitken indicated would have been made more likely by Clark’s own actions in attempting to evade justice.

Sheriff Aitken told Clark: “Your purpose for not turning up would seem to be to avoid the consequences of your actions.

“Given the nature of the charges that you have pled guilty to I consider that no sentence other than a custodial sentence is appropriate.

Clark was jailed for 10 months, backdated to August 29 of this year.

He now faces sentencing on a charge of failing to notify under the terms of the Sex Offenders Register in Dunfermline next month.

Description

The first in-person jury to sit at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in more than two years has convicted a Glenrothes man of child abuse dating back more than three decades.

Thomas Hepburn, 62, was found guilty of two charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour by the majority of jurors on Monday afternoon.

Hepburn was convicted of targeting one girl, then aged between 12 and 16, on various occasions at houses in Glenrothes between February 1989 and February 1993.

The allegations only came to light in 2019 after Hepburns victim underwent hypnotherapy and counselling.

After drinking, he would sneak into a room where the girl was in bed wearing a nightie or a T-shirt and pants, before touching her.

On one occasion after abusing her, she tried to leave to go to the bathroom but Hepburn followed her.

Addressing the jury before they retired, fiscal depute Claire Bremner said: She said she tried to use the bathroom and was followed in by Thomas Hepburn.

He sat on the bath while she used the toilet.

Second victim

Jurors agreed Hepburn touched and rubbed his young victim on the body, over and under her clothing and observed her carrying out a private act.

They also found Hepburn touched her private parts over and under her clothes, attempted to remove her bed covers, place his hands in her underwear and forced her to touch his private parts.

He was found guilty of a second charge alleging he targeted another girl of a similar age, at an address in Glenrothes on one occasion between March of 1988 and 1990.

There, he entered the girls bed, lay beside her and touched her on the body over her underwear.

Ms Bremner added: There is compelling evidence that all of these incidents are linked in time, character and circumstances.

Neither complainer can be named for legal reasons.

A third charge, alleging more lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour towards a third girl in the early 90s was found not proven.

Now of Shiel Gardens in Falkirk, first offender Hepburn had denied all charges, lodging a defence seeking to incriminate his older brother.

The court had heard four days of evidence, mainly in private and jurors spent Monday morning and early afternoon deliberating.

Juries return to court

Hepburns trial, before Sheriff Alastair Brown, was the first with an in-person jury since before the first Covid-19 lockdown and the first ever to sit in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Courts annexe building.

Fife juries had been operating remotely from Dunfermlines Odeon.

Sheriff Brown described the offences as plainly serious and ordered reports.

Hepburn, who attended court on crutches, was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and will be sentenced on October 24.

Description

A violent rapist who dangled a woman over a live rail line from a bridge was jailed for nine years today.

Ricki Findleton raped two victims and molested a 13-year-old girl during a campaign of abuse that spanned eight years.

One victim who was subjected to sex attacks during a pregnancy was left fearing for the well-being of her unborn son.

A judge told Findleton, 27, at the High Court in Edinburgh that his sexual offending was serious in itself but the acts of violence he perpetrated were disturbing.

Lady Haldane said: It was plainly harrowing for the first two complainers, in particular, to give their evidence and they showed enormous courage in doing so.

She said a background report prepared on the sex offender made for dispiriting reading as he continued to deny any responsibility for his crimes.

Extended sentence

The judge said that Findleton even suggested that victims were motivated to testify against him for monetary gain.

She ordered that Findleton, formerly of Rossend Terrace, Burntisland, in Fife, should be monitored for a further five years under an extended sentence.

Lady Haldane told him that he would be under licence during that period and if he breached conditions would be liable to be returned to prison to serve out that whole sentence in custody.

Findleton had denied a series of charges during an earlier trial in which he claimed he was the victim of wicked lies.

He was convicted of a total of 12 charges four offences of rape, two of underage sex, two of threatening or abusive behaviour, one off assault, one of abduction and assault, one of sexual assault and one of indecent communication with a child.

The crimes were committed by him at addresses and locations in Burntisland and Kirkcaldy, in Fife, between 2011 and 2019.

One woman, who was twice subjected to rapes by Findleton when she was a pregnant teenager, said she feared for her unborn child following the second sex attack.

She said she was crying and in pain during the sexual assault committed after he ripped of her pants. She told the court: I knew he had used a lot of force. I had a lot of bleeding.

The 26-year-old woman said: I was eight months and two weeks pregnant. I was scared my son had been harmed.

I think on that occasion I went to the hospital to make sure everything was okay with my son.

She said that following the sexual assault on her in 2011 she went to the bathroom, but realised there was blood coming from her.

She told advocate depute Donald Davidson that the bleeding resulted from the assault rather than being due to her pregnancy.

The woman said that after Findleton subjected her to the rape late in her pregnancy he told her that was nice and went to play with an Xbox games console and smoked a joint.

Railway bridge

She said that on other occasions Findleton, who first has sex with her when she was aged 15, subjected her to abuse and assaults.

She said that on one occasion in Burntisland he pushed her to the ground, picked her up by the ankles so that they were level with his shoulders before he dangled her from a bridge over a railway line. Construction worker Findleton claimed that the incident did not happen.

A second woman, now aged 22, had underage sex with her and was later subjected to rape, including following the birth of her son in 2016.

A 13-year-old girl received a message from in 2019 in which he said he really wanted to have sex with her. She said: He was texting me saying how beautiful I was.

The teenager said she was sent an obscene image by him and was molested by him. She told police: I just dont want it happening to another girl.

Findleton was told that he would be placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

Description

A high risk sex offender from Fife has been returned to jail after he admitted having contact with two young girls.

James Kidd, nicknamed Moonpig because he ran a greetings card business behind bars, breached a strict court order after his release from prison.

The 28-year-old had spent 13 months on remand over made-up and unfounded allegations that he had sexually assaulted a former cellmate.

When he was released, he was still subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which meant he was forbidden from having any deliberate contact with any girls under 16.

He was told that, because of the order, he could not stay with his girlfriend in what was temporary accommodation.

The pair moved to Lochgelly, but he soon ended the relationship and entered another one.

Shortly after, Kidds ex-partner contacted Fife Councils social work department and told them that while they had been together, another woman had been in the house with two primary-school age girls on three occasions.

Police inquiries found that the girls mother was aware of Kidds history and even joked with him about being a beast.

He was eventually traced by police hiding in a friends attic.

Lawyer says breach was not sinister

Kidd, 28, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court by video link from HMP Barlinnie to admit breaching his SOPO in Lochgellys Main Street between April 1 and April 14 this year.

Solicitor David Cranston explained that in 2018, Kidd was jailed for 42 months and that he only spent 13 days at liberty before the false allegations saw him locked up again for more than a year.

He added that Kidd had always been clear about his convictions and requirements.

What he should have done was left the house, Mr Cranston said.

He hardly interacted with them at all.

I hope the court will accept this wasnt a sinister breach.

Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane jailed Kidd for 10 months, backdated to April 25.

She said: These orders are in place for a good reason.

Chequered history

Sex offender James Kidd has already spent time behind bars for hiding contraband in his cell at HMP Perth.

In 2019, Kidd succeeded in correcting a sheriff who tried to extend his prison sentence.

Former electrician Kidd created a makeshift tattoo gun in his cell from a spoon, a guitar string, a pen and a Playstation controller.

Sheriff Keith OMahony tried to jail him for three months, but from the dock, Kidd reminded him the maximum sentence was 30 days, below the three months the sheriff had intended.

Kidd admitted a month later that he had a needle in his cell at Perth Prison, which he said was for making ornate greetings cards to sell to other lags.

For that, he was jailed for eight months.

Description

A Fife sex offender who once travelled 150 miles to meet a 15-year-old girl he groomed online has been jailed again for following teenagers around Glenrothes.

Liam Russell appeared by video link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday and admitted breaching the terms of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).

The 25-year-old, listed as a prisoner at HMP Perth, hung about Asda in Glenrothes and North Street in the town centre in the presence of teenage girls.

One of the young women told police: I dont feel safe around him.

Russell had been ordered in 2015 not to have any contact with people under the age of 18.

He just keeps following us around

Police clocked him in Asda at the self scanners with a pair of teenage girls.

They confronted him as he waiting for a bus with three young females, one of whom was 18.

Fiscal depute Claire Bremner explained that on this occasion, one of the girls told police: Ive heard about him and I dont feel safe around him.

He approached us a while ago and he just keeps following us around.

Russell also admitted another breach of his order by texting a 15-year-old girl in Renfrewshire.

Police were carrying out a routine check of his phone when they saw messages to the teenager.

They asked local officers to check with the girl who confirmed they spoke on social media too.

When police returned to seize Russells phone, it had no SIM card, but they found the girls name and number at his home in Smeaton Gardens, Kirkcaldy, on a scrap of paper.

Russell admitted breaching his SOPO between August and September 2021.

Jailed again

His solicitor David Bell said in relation to the texting: Theres not a great deal of mitigation one can put forward.

Theres nothing before the court to suggest the communication was sexual.

Hes an isolated individual, he doesnt have a peer group.

Hes spent most of his adult life in and out of prison.

Regrettably, he seems to find himself in the company of teenagers, hanging around.

He has to refrain from that.

Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane jailed Russell for a year.

She said: Mr Russell, if you continue to breach your order then you will continue to go back into prison because the options are fairly limited.

On order after grooming teen

When he was aged 18, Russell groomed a 15-year-old girl online and travelled 150 miles to meet her at her Ross-shire school.

He took the girl to the school bike sheds and fondled her before she went into class.

Then living in Dunfermline, Russell was jailed after he admitted three sex offences involving two teenage girls at Inverness Sheriff Court.

In 2015, a court heard that Russell posted an indecent video to a social networking site on February 27 of that year showing a woman performing a sex act.

He also posted a message that the woman in the video was a 16-year-old girl he knew, causing distress to the teenager and her mother.

Russell also admitted travelling to Ross-shire on March 18, while on bail, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with a teenager and groping her in the school grounds.

Description

A Kinross man has admitted sexually assaulting a woman after he stalked her for two years.

When his victim cried out for help, Jack Millard told her: Does it hurt? Does it? Good.

The 27-year-old sexually attacked the womans teenage sister just weeks later.

Millard was placed on the sex offenders register after he pled guilty to the assaults at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

The first-time offender, who admitted assaulting the woman while she was pregnant and also attacking a one-year-old child, will be sentenced next month.

Two sex attacks

The court heard that in November 2019 Millard sexually assaulted a woman while she was lying in bed, after she had refused to have sex with him.

Millard pulled the duvet off of her and forced down her pyjama bottoms, before abusing her and leaving her scratched.

He was told to stop, but responded by saying: Does it hurt? Does it? Good.

Millard fled when the woman screamed for help. He later returned to apologise.

In January 2020, he turned his attention to the womans sister, who was under 16 at the time, the court heard.

Whilst in the same property in Kirkcaldy, Millard seized the girl as she got up to go to a window.

He hugged her around her waist from behind.

The two were alone in the room and he placed her on the couch in a spooning position.

The girl reported feeling him press into her body.

Millard then proceeded to touch her private parts. He sat up and apologised when he was told to stop.

He told the girl that if she didnt say anything, she wouldnt need to see him again.

Police were contacted shortly after.

Stalked for two years

Millard admitted that for two years before the sexual assault, he had stalked the woman in Edinburgh, shouting, swearing and calling her names.

He also admitted attacking her on numerous occasions during the same time period, between 2017 and 2019.

At a property in the capital, Jack Millard, of Acermore Drive in Kinross, seized her, pinned her to a bed, sat on her to restrict her movement all while she didnt know she was pregnant.

Millard also pushed her on the body, causing her head to strike a wall, and repeatedly struck her on the head and squeezed his hands around her neck, restricting her breathing.

These attacks also left the woman injured.

Millard also pled guilty to an assault on a crying one-year-old boy in May 2019 while he was in a taxi in Edinburgh by covering his nose and mouth with his hands.

Sheriff Alison McKay continued his bail for reports until September 21 when Millard will be sentenced.

Description

A 'predatory and dangerous' sex offender has been jailed after being found guilty of a string of serious sexual offences against three women.

John Todd was convicted of the attacks, including rape, which took place in Perth, Angus and Fife over a five year period.

The 34-year-old has now been sentenced to five years and 10 months behind bars after appearing at the High Court in Edinburgh today.

In a statement, Police Scotland officers praised the bravery of Todd's victims who came forward.

They added that they hoped the verdict would go some way to helping them move forward with their lives.

Detective Sergeant Lauren ONeil of Fife Divisions Rape Investigation Unit said: Todd is a predatory and dangerous man who has committed a variety of serious crimes against a number of different women over a protracted period of time.

It is thanks to the courage of the women who came forward that he has been now been found guilty of his crimes and the cruelty of his behaviour has been exposed.

I would like to commend the women for their bravery throughout this investigation and court proceedings.

"Hopefully the verdict today will help them moving forward.

Description

A Fife-based teacher has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register after being found with hundreds of indecent images of children.

Technical studies teacher Blair Paton admitted possessing disgusting images of girls as young as five and later insisted to police he was not a danger to his pupils.

The 39-year-olds haul of images was discovered after police received information he had accessed child abuse pictures on a social media app.

The dad-of-one, who lives in Burntisland, downloaded and viewed them between May and July 2020 after installing the Kik messenger to his phone.

Paton who featured in BBC Ones 2005 documentary series Teacher Teacher was charged and told officers: Im so sorry.

Fiscal depute Carol Gammie told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the images ranged from Category A the most serious to Category C and that Paton had searched for child sex abuse groups on Kik.

Most recently a teacher at St Machar Academy in Aberdeen, he formerly worked at Bucksburn Academy, Mackie Academy and Meldrum Academy in Aberdeenshire.

Hundreds of images retrieved

Ms Gammie said Police Scotlands child abuse investigations unit first received information, in July 2021, that an account linked to Patons email address had shared child sexual abuse material within a group chat on Kik.

When police went to his then-home, Patons wife answered the door and officers searched his phone and laptop.

The accuseds phone was found to contain 10 indecent images of children, the fiscal said.

These images featured female children aged approximately five to 12 years of age.

A full forensic examination of the devices recovered 1,767 inaccessible indecent images of children.

247 were Category A, 786 were Category B and 734 were Category C images.

No evidence of distribution was found.

He had found it exciting

The court heard that Paton had joined Kik in the summer of 2020 to meet and chat to people.

Ms Gammie said: He stated he had joined some groups and that within these groups other people were sharing pictures and that is how they had got on to his mobile phone.

He stated that in the moment he had found it exciting.

He admitted to searching for Kik chat groups relating to child abuse in order to view indecent images of children.

He said he was unsure if he was sexually attracted to children, but thought he must have been at that time.

He advised he later decided he did not want to be a part of those groups and deleted his Kik account.

He stated that he tried to delete all indecent images of children from his devices after deleting Kik.

Im so sorry, Im so sorry

Paton, an Aberdeen University graduate, also told police he does not find the children he teaches attractive and that he is not a danger to children.

After being cautioned and charged he told officers: Im so sorry, Im so sorry.

Paton admitted one charge of taking or permitting to be taken or made indecent images or pseudo-images of children at an address in Blackdog, between May 23 and July 21 2020.

Sheriff Ian Wallace deferred sentence on Paton, of Inchgarvie Avenue, Burntisland, for background reports and a restriction of liberty order assessment.

The length of time he will spend subject to registration will be determined at that time.

Aberdeen City Council said he is not employed by the local authority.

Description

A Dunfermline sex offender was snared after he sent naked photographs of a schoolgirl to her friend on Instagram.

Alan Cook admitted taking or making indecent photographs of children, distributing the filth and causing another person to view photographs of a 15-year-old girl.

The now 18-year-old had been speaking with the teenager on Instagram messenger in April 2020 and conversation had begun normally, Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard.

Cook, who was 16 at the time, made clear to the girl he knew her friend and had a crush on her.

The girls friend did not feel the same way about him.

Cook then sent the girl he had been speaking to nine photographs of her friend in various states of undress, including graphic images.

The recipient contacted police and officers obtained a search warrant.

Images and videos found

When they attended at Cooks home in Clunie Road, they seized an iPad and phones.

On the devices, police found Cook had been using search terms such as 14-year-olds and jailbait.

Officers found 172 indecent images of children and three videos on his devices.

Two of the videos and 36 of the images were deemed category A, the worst of files, and depicted children from the ages of one to six years old being abused, including by adults.

In terms of category B files, Cook was found to have 72 images and one video, depicting children between the ages of two and five.

He also had 64 category C files, showing children between the ages of three and eight.

Sentence deferred

His solicitor Chris Sneddon said: He was 16 at the time.

Clearly reports will be required.

He is able to plead competently today.

Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane deferred sentence until June 27 to allow for social work reports and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be completed.

The sheriff also placed Cook on the Sex Offenders Register and the full period of time he will spend subject to the notification requirements will be confirmed at the next hearing.

She released Cook on bail and told him: I have to get a report before I deal with you.

Description

A remorseless rapist who attacked an 83-year-old woman in her own home has been jailed.

Kyle McKenzie, 23, was sentenced to 11 years after admitting his crime but showing no contrition.

McKenzie attacked the woman after breaking into a property in Glenrothes, Fife, on June 25, 2020 and carried out what police described as a 'particularly brutal attack on a vulnerable woman' in her own home.

He pleaded guilty on November 16 and was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh today.

Senior investigating officer DI Darren Stewart said: 'Kyle McKenzie is clearly a very dangerous, opportunistic individual.

'He carried out particularly brutal attack on a vulnerable woman, submitting her to a harrowing ordeal in the one place in the world she should have been safest, her own home.

'He showed no contrition for his reprehensible behaviour when he was charged.

'However, he will now face the consequences of his actions having admitted his guilt.

'A large scale police investigation was carried out following this incident which ultimately identified McKenzie as being the individual responsible.

'I want to take the opportunity to thank the public and partner agencies for their assistance and information provided, particularly in providing support to the woman involved.

'Police Scotland treats all reports of sexual crime with the utmost professionalism and sensitivity in order to bring perpetrators of such crimes such as Kyle McKenzie to justice.'