A notorious “urban hunter” from Fife has been jailed for 28 months after using Facebook to taunt police who were searching for him.
Brandon Robb, 23, from Leslie, was the subject of a Police Scotland missing persons alert in August but brazenly responded to social media posts, saying he had “gone fishing” in England.
Robb was being sought in relation to four breaches of a sexual offences prevention order imposed on him in March 2016. He admitted those offences when he appeared via video link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
Under the terms of the order, Robb, of Paterson Park Cottages, was forbidden from contacting any child under the age of 16 but the court heard he had ignored that by having contact with two 14-year-olds and two 15-year-olds on various occasions in the Leslie area between March 1 and 3 last year and between June 1 and July 31 this year.
Fiscal Ronnie Hay explained Robb had regularly met up with people – some of whom were under the age of 16 – in the grounds of Leslie House, local parks and woodland and at a nearby reservoir.
Mr Hay also revealed how he had been messaging a girl under the age of 16 on social media channel Snapchat, in particular sending pictures of his stomach muscles.
Defence solicitor David Cranston explained as Leslie was a small community, it was common for children of different age groups to grow up together, with large groups of around 20 people tending to congregate in certain areas.
He said: “The context is that everybody is quite well known to each other in Leslie, but he recognises that he shouldn’t have been as friendly with the under 16s.”
Mr Cranston went on to say Robb was aware the police were looking for him and arranged to hand himself in on August 11.
However, Sheriff James Williamson was not impressed by the manner in which Robb had breached the order imposed by the court.
He said: “The phrase has been used that you came into contact with children.
“That would give an indication of innocent contact but it’s clear that you went out of your way to make contact with young people quite contrary to the sexual offences prevention order.”
Sheriff Williamson sentenced Robb to 28 months in prison, backdated to August 3.
Robb previously gained notoriety when he posted pictures of himself and his dog hunting, and was jailed in 2014 after using his pet dog to hunt and kill a rare piebald deer.
Making reference to that, Mr Cranston told the court his client had “quite severe” ADHD but loved hunting and enjoyed “ridding the local golf course of pests”.
