Indecent images of young girls found on Wick man's phone

Police who raided a young Wick man's home discovered a series of indecent images.

It led to Jack Bain's appearance at Wick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

He pleaded guilty to two charges on indictment and was fined £600 and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Sheriff Mark Lindsay heard that police officers executed a search warrant at the 22-year-old's home at Oldwick Mains, Wick, on April 26, last year.

The indecent material comprising 43 images, including girls aged between three and 12, was recovered from the accused's mobile phone.

The offences took place between December 12, 2021, and February 9, 2022.

David Barclay stressed that the images were available online to download and that Bain had taken no part in the production of them.

Advocate Bill Adam said that Bain offered no excuse for his "totally unacceptable behaviour" but made the point that a background report had described the accused, a first offender, as being at low risk of reoffending.

Sheriff Lindsay who also saw the background report said the offences were "very serious" but there were sufficient mitigating circumstances to conclude that it would not be in the interests of justice to impose a custodial sentence.

The sheriff warned, however, that any repeat of such behaviour would "almost inevitably" attract a prison term.

In addition to the penalties imposed, Bain was placed on the sex offenders register for three years.