A Coupar Angus man caught red-handed with obscene child abuse videos tried to get charges dismissed by arguing police had botched their search of his home.
Graham Taylor had nearly 40 minutes of illicit footage stored on his phone, featuring girls as young as 12 years old.
When police raided his George Street home he handed over his mobile, telling them: “It’s all down to me. Some stuff online. You’ll only find anything on my phone.”
However, lawyers for the 55-year-old tried to get the case thrown out by arguing police did not follow procedure when they turned up at his house.
They said officers made Taylor’s wife phone him at work and tell him to return home, without giving away details of their investigation.
Perth Sheriff Court heard a trial within a trial – testing a piece of evidence separately – in which police officers confirmed they had phoned Taylor, not his wife.
Detective Constable Gareth Ewing said they did not tell Taylor the reason for their visit over the phone was because they were concerned he would delete or hide his files before returning.
“It wouldn’t be the first time evidence was lost if someone was given the heads up,” he said.
Sheriff’s ruling
Sheriff James Hastie rejected the defence’s position.
“The reason they made the call was because of potential prejudice to the inquiry and concerns about the accused’s welfare,” he said.
The sheriff also questioned a screenshot of Taylor’s wife’s phone that reputably showed she had called him at 8.37am – more than half an hour after police arrived.
He said if she had called to ask her husband to come back at that time, he would not have made it home by 8.50am, as all evidence suggested.
“For those reasons I repel the defence objection to admissibility,” the sheriff said.
Following the decision, Taylor admitted charges of taking or permitting to take indecent photos of children at his home between March 11 and November 28 2020.
He pled guilty to a second charge of possessing the images.
Police raid
Fiscal depute David Currie said officers armed with a search warrant arrived on Taylor’s doorstop just after 8am on November 30.
“This was part of an investigation into indecent child images.
“The accused’s wife answered the door and told police he had just left for work.”
Officers then called Taylor as he was heading into Dundee and told him to turn back.
The reason for the police visit was revealed when Taylor returned home.
He surrendered his phone and told investigators: “It’s all down to me.”
Mr Currie said his mobile held two videos, dated March 11 and November 20.
They were described as Category B on the court’s obscenity scale, and featured girls aged between 12 and 15 posing and involved in non-penetrative sexual activity.
Taylor was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and will be sentenced on April 24.
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