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USB stick with pictures and videos of children being abused found hidden in leg of bed, court hears

Inverness Sheriff Court
Inverness Sheriff Court

Police raided the home of a registered sex offender after receiving information that a computer had accessed websites displaying indecent images of children.

When officers arrived at 31-year-old Liam Mackay’s home in Deas Avenue, Dingwall, on May 7 last year, they discovered a USB stick hidden in the hollow leg of his bed.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday a cursory examination of the device revealed an array of images and video footage of children being abused.

The victims were said to have been between the ages of two and 12 years.

Fiscal depute Alison Young said Mackay was a registered sex offender who was currently undertaking a community payback order in connection with a previous offence.

She told the court specialist police officers had undertaken forensic analysis of the USB stick and discovered 2,180 indecent images and a further 315 videos of varying lengths.

They were categorised in three rankings of obscenity, the highest being ‘A’, of which there were 308 images and 171 videos.

There were also 511 still images and 107 videos at category B and a further 1,361 photographs and 37 videos categorised at level C.

The Crown said they had been created between March and December 2019.

Mackay admitted downloading indecent images and videos – which amounted to a total of one day, six hours and three minutes of video footage depicting children being abused.

Solicitor Pauline Gibson asked Sheriff Margaret Neilson to continue Mackay’s bail until a background report has been obtained.

The sheriff agreed but warned Mackay he should not read anything into her decision with regards to her eventual sentence.

She again placed him on the sex offenders register as she is required to by law.

He will re-appear at Inverness Court for sentencing on January 28.