A sex offender who used his games console to search for indecent images of babies has avoided prison after his lawyer described his lonely existence.
Gordon Yates was banned from owning or using any device capable of accessing the internet at the time of his arrest, on December 5, following a prior conviction.
When the 27-year-old appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month, it emerged that police visiting his home on a routine check found him using an Xbox to go online.
Fiscal depute Colin Neilson told the court that officers later discovered he had been searching for “naked babies”, and found more than 200 indecent images of children on the computer.
Yates, who appeared on remand from HMP Grampian, admitted breaching the terms of his sexual offences prevention order by having the games console in his possession, and to possessing indecent images or pseudo-images of children.
The accused returned to the dock yesterday to be sentenced.
His defence agent, Gail Goodfellow, blamed his crimes on suffering from ill health and being “socially isolated”.
She said: “He was bullied at school and has suffered depression since then. He only has one friend, who doesn’t live nearby, who he met through playing on the Xbox.
“After his prior conviction, he gave the device to his aunt for safe keeping, but he persuaded her to return it last year.
“He wanted to play games on it, but was unable to resist using it for unlawful purposes.”
All but seven of the images he was found with were graded as Level C – the least serious.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin ordered Yates to perform 200 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months and to remain under supervision for five years. His games console was forfeited.
