A Dunfermline paedophile who built up a stash of more than 13,000 child abuse pictures and videos over 22 years has avoided a prison sentence.
Thomas Weir, 57, began gathering the sick material on August 10 2000 until he was finally caught in December last year.
It included images of girls as young as four being raped and newborns being sexually abused.
Weir appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to possessing the illegal files on discs and a pair of computers.
Medical evidence
Defence lawyer Alexander Flett highlighted Weir’s health issues and social isolation, which Weir accepts led to him first using mainstream pornography before accessing the illegal material.
Mr Flett said first offender Weir has been engaging with the Stop It Now programme since being arrested.
He pointed out Weir needs medication for a brain tumour and struggles with mobility and chronic kidney disease.
The lawyer argued a social worker’s recommended disposal of a community payback order (CPO) would be an appropriate way to deal with the matter, given his client’s age, health and his early guilty plea.
Sheriff Craig McSherry told Weir he was taking into account it was his first offence and as a direct alternative to custody, made him subject to two years of offender supervision.
Weir was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years.
13,725 indecent images
Prosecutor Jamie Hilland told the court previously police searched Weir’s Elgin Court home on December 6 2022 after receiving a tip-off about one of his devices.
Two detectives asked Weir if he had seen indecent images of children on any devices in the house, to which he replied: “No – on the PC there may be images that are not right”.
A total of 13,725 indecent images were found, along with 86 videos, on devices within the property.
Of those, 40 images and 17 videos were classed as category A – the most graphic kind.
The fiscal depute said on one desktop computer, the most graphic material depicted girls aged between four and 15, and included penetrative sex by adult males.
Category B material on this device showed girls between the ages of newborn and six either being forced to carry out or being subjected to non-penetrative sexual acts with adults.
On another desktop computer, described as being in a poor state of repair, a ten-minute long video depicted a girl aged between 13 and 15 in a bathtub.
There were more than 11,740 indecent images found on this device, mostly at category C level and showing underage girls both naked and semi-clothed in erotic poses or with the camera focused on their private parts.
Police also recovered a number of optical discs containing abuse files.
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