A Stirling dad was this week jailed for 14 months for possessing sick child abuse images.
Gordon Birnie had admitted a charge of possessing indecent photographs of children at his Cornton home between August 18, 2018, and October 20, 2020.
His solicitor Ken Dalling told Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday that a significant amount of the images were at the most serious level Class A.
The lawyer described 51-year-old Birnie’s crime as akin to opening Pandora’s Box.
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Birnie had no previous convictions. However, he was aware since the police had first knocked on his door that he could face a custodial sentence.
The lawyer said alternatives to custody were available - and Birnie had been assessed as fit for unpaid work.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahony however told Birnie that while the majority of the images were Class C each one represented the abuse of a child.
There were also videos at the most serious end of the scale.
He placed Birnie, of Etive Place, on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
Telling him there was no alternative to custody, Sheriff O’Mahony sentenced him to 14 months’ imprisonment.
