A Brora man who had 138 indecent images and 16 videos of young children was jailed for 10 months at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
Mark Waud of Ardachu had admitted at Tain Sheriff Court last month possessing the pornography between September 26, 2009, and August 23, 2017. His collection was recovered after a police raid on his home 18 months ago.
They were all stored on five devices and easily accessible, the court was told.
A total of 33 images were categorised ‘A’ as the most serious, with 48 in Category B and 57 in Category C.
Sisx of the videos were Category B and four in Category C, the least explicit.
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The 56-year-old had been due to be sentenced at Tain last Monday but the case was transferred by Sheriff Chris Dickson to Inverness for another sheriff to deal with.
Defence solicitor Neil Wilson said his client had given instructions to plead guilty immediately after the analysis of the devices revealed its hoard.
“He knows what to expect and has his bag packed. He has shown remorse for what he has done.
“Although it is a relatively small number of images, the aggravating factors are the length of time and that they were easily accessible and he is entirely realistic that a jail sentence is the only option.
“But when he comes to the end of his sentence, he will not trouble the court again.”
Sheriff Fleetwood also placed Waud on the Sex Offender’s Register for 10 years.