A suspected paedophile was found dead shortly after being confronted by a vigilante group at his home.
Andrew Clunie took his own life after being accused on his doorstep of trying to groom children on the internet.
Clunie, who was in his early 60s, had been charged with sexual offences after the vigilante group reported his online messaging to Police Scotland.
He had originally been scheduled to appear on an undertaking at Perth Sheriff Court on Friday but the case was dropped without calling by the Crown.
It is understood Clunie had been accused of sending sexual communication to a child after being duped online by a group of self-styled paedophile hunters.
Clunie, from a village in Perthshire, is said to have believed he had been exchanging messages with a youngster but was actually sending them to an adult posing as a much younger person.
Confronted by group
Members of the group turned up at his home in Perthshire to confront him personally about the nature of his online interaction with the “child.”
The “meeting” was recorded and posted online to expose supposed Clunie’s involvement and his details were forwarded to the police.
In the video, a group of at least five people arrive at his door and a woman confronts him about obscene messages placed on an online forum.
She claims Clunie knew he was speaking to a “13-year-old” and while he denies the content of the messages, he admits he had done so.
He says it was “wrong” and says he will not do it again.
The 26-minute video ends with the police arriving.
The footage was posted online by the STS, the West Lothian Online
Paedophile Hunting Team, on November 7.
He was interviewed by police and served with an undertaking to appear in court.
He was due to make a first appearance on Friday but the Crown was informed he had been found dead.
Hunter groups
So-called online paedophile hunting has become a common practice on the internet.
Groups set up fake accounts, posing as children, to lure offenders into communicating with them.
Where the conversations turn to sexual matters, the hunter groups will trace their targets and confront them, often at their home address.
Typically, the encounters will be livestreamed and take place as the group awaits the police – often cutting off at the moment officers arrive.
When cases reach court, debate often surrounds whether an offence has been committed if there is no real “child” on the other end of the sexual advances.
The methods of some groups have been questioned, with some claiming they are setting up men who might otherwise never offend.
