A notorious north-east paedophile has been sent back to prison after he lied to police about having a mobile phone – on which they found hundreds of child abuse videos.
Jordan Gall appeared via video link at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted hiding his mobile phone in a bush in an attempt to avoid detection by police officers.
When police found the phone they discovered the 28-year-old had downloaded more than 300 indecent videos of children – most of which were of the most serious category.
He had been placed on the sex offenders register only two months earlier.
Gall was jailed for 12 months in January of this year after he was found in possession of nearly 7,000 illegal images and more than two weeks’ worth of unlawful videos.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Gall he was sentencing him to a period of imprisonment due to the “high level of risk” he poses to the public. He also placed him on the sex offenders register for life.
Accused hid phone from police
Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told the court that at around 9pm on October 10 last year officers attempted to trace Gall on an unrelated matter and went to his home where they got no answer.
They called him on his registered mobile phone and were told by Gall that he was shopping at Aldi on Countesswells Road.
Attending at Aldi, the officers couldn’t find Gall so called him again where he informed them he was now on Woodburn Crescent.
He was told to remain where he was and when they arrived they asked him to hand over his mobile phone.
Gall stated that he did not have it with him and the officers reminded him that they had just spoken with him on the phone just minutes earlier.
“The accused then admitted that he had hidden his mobile phone in nearby shrubbery, as he had possessed the device for more than 72 hours without notifying police and was in breach of his bail conditions,” Mr Middleton said.
“Police officers conducted a search and located the Samsung phone in some shrubbery.
“On checking the device, officers found a number of indecent images of children.”
Videos featured sadistic sexual acts
A full examination of the phone found Gall had 196 Category A videos, which featured indecent sexual activity and sadistic sexual acts.
It was also found to contain 53 Category B videos and 59 Category C videos.
The total runtime of the videos found was eight hours and 46 minutes.
Gall pleaded guilty to one charge of downloading indecent child images and a second charge of being in possession of indecent child images.
He also admitted a third charge of being in possession of a mobile phone without informing police within 72 hours.
Additionally, Gall also admitted one charge of breaching the sex offenders notification requirements by having a bank card he hadn’t informed police about.
He also pleaded guilty to a final charge of downloading the social media app Snapchat in breach of his bail conditions.
Accused’s attitude to offences is ‘concerning’
Defence solicitor Neil McRobert said Gall had told him that his previous period of imprisonment had had a “significant impact on him”.
However, Mr McRobert conceded that Gall’s “attitude” to his crimes was “concerning”.
“Mr Gall is well aware given his previous convictions that custody will be at the forefront of the court’s mind,” he added.
Sheriff Miller told Gall that he had been found guilty of possessing and downloading a “significant quantity” of indecent images of children, which was of a “similar nature” to the offence for which he was jailed in January of this year.
“You present a high level of risk and I am satisfied that a significant sentence of imprisonment is appropriate here,” he said.
Sheriff Miller sentenced Gall, of Provost Graham Avenue, Aberdeen, to two and a half years in prison with a further two years on licence following his release.
He also placed Gall on the sex offenders register for life.
“This sentence reflects the need to protect the public from serious harm from you when you are released,” the sheriff added.
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