A Highland man was caught with more than an hour-and-a-half of vile videos featuring indecent images of children on his devices, a court has heard.
The footage was found by cyber crimes investigators inspecting devices seized at Simon Bishop’s home after intelligence was received by police.
The investigation also uncovered more than 300 indecent still images of children, of which five were category A, the most severe. Four were category B and the rest category C.
Bishop, 43, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge relating to the material.
‘Intelligence’ led to house search
Fiscal depute Alison Young told the court that Bishop’s home had been searched after police received intelligence about his activities.
A cyber crimes investigation of two seized devices – an Acer laptop and a gaming laptop – uncovered a total of 303 indecent still images of children, and nine videos.
Five of the still images were category A, the most severe. Four were category B and the rest category C.
Two of the videos were category A, three category B and four category C. The footage had a combined run-time of approximately 95 minutes.
Internet searches ‘consistent’ with vile content
All of the pictures and videos were inaccessible on the devices, but information about internet searches performed on the devices was consistent with the content found, Ms Young told Sheriff David Harvie.
The charge related to a period between July 17 2018 and July 13 2022.
Sheriff Harvie deferred sentence for reports and told Bishop, of Inchabe, Garve: “You have pled guilty to a serious charge and you have an analogous record.”
He called for a criminal justice social work report and said: “In light of your record all options are open.”
The case will call again next month.
