An elected member of Stirling Council has appeared in court accused of downloading child abuse material.
Ewan Dillon, 21, represents Bridge of Allan and Dunblane on Stirling Council as an independent.
He was only 19 when he was elected in May 2022 as a Labour member.
He switched to being an independent member on the council five months later.
On Tuesday Dillon, of Stirling‘s Market Street, denied a single charge under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, which bans the “taking or making of any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph” – downloading images – of children.
Two-day trial expected
Appearing in the Stirling Sheriff Court dock Dillon spoke only to confirm his name and his plea of not guilty.
The charge alleges the offence was committed between October 18 2021 and September 29 2022.
Sheriff Derek Hamilton set trial for May 20 and continued bail.
The court was told the case was likely to last two days.
Solicitor advocate George Pollock, representing Dillon, agreed “the crux of the matter” was how the images in question “ended up on the computer”.
He said: “The case will turn on the evidence of the Crown expert, supplemented by evidence from Mr Dillon.”
Won election as teenager
Prior to quitting the Labour Party group on Stirling Council, Dillon had been vice-convener of the community planning and regeneration committee and the children and young people committee.
According to the Stirling Council website, he now sits as a member of the licensing board and lists his non-financial interests as “Member of the GMB Union”.
In May 2022 the then-19-year-old’s win in the Dunblane and Bridge of Allan ward, which is represented by four councillors, was seen as a good result for Labour.
A former Dunblane High pupil and member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, he said following his win: “We’re going to be focusing on things like closing the attainment gap and the cost of living crisis.
“One of the big issues for me is transport on local bus routes and making sure there are no more cuts to vital services.”
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