Police found a sickening stash of child abuse images at the home of an IT expert working for a firm providing services to the UK Government.
They discovered the vile collection when they seized for than 30 devices from the loft at Hugh Macpherson's Barrhead house.
Now fears have been raised that the 37-year-old had access to sensitive information while his employer carried out work for the state, the Daily Record reports.
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Macpherson worked for Glasgow-based Iomart designing data storage systems at the time and pled guilty to possessing indecent images of children and bestiality between June 2018 and March 2021, including some in the most extreme category.
Yesterday at Paisley Sheriff Court, he was placed on a Community Payback Order and on the sex offenders register for three years.
Sheriff Eoin McGinty ordered him to be supervised by social workers and attend a programme which helps reform sex offenders.
One source close to the case said: "Given how skilled he is with IT and the level of expertise he has, it's actually incredible they found anything at all. You'd have thought that he'd have made sure to cover his tracks properly. We think he completely forgot they were there.
"His job is to create online storage platforms and make sure data and files are stored and managed properly. He could have stashed files anywhere online he had access to, in hidden folders on websites or on the dark web."
A police source said: "It's definitely possible that some may have been stored in places only he knew to look. That includes government systems."
Iomart was approached for comment by the Record.
The UK Government said: "Suppliers working on government platforms are required to have strict security measures in place and must comply with the government security policy framework."
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