A BARRHEAD man is facing a jail sentence over a horrendous stash of child abuse images he downloaded.

Gavin Blair, 29, viewed the banned filth on a laptop at his home in Levern Crescent over a six-and-a-half year period.

The details emerged this week when first offender Blair appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court for a pre-trial hearing.

He struck a deal with prosecutors which saw two charges against him dropped when he admitted downloading the illegal files.

The Crown accepted Blair’s not guilty pleas to charges of possessing the sickening snaps and possessing extreme porn images showing bestiality.

Procurator fiscal depute Keri Marshall told Sheriff Frances McCartney that Blair’s home was raided by police after they obtained a search warrant due to information they had received.

She said: “The search warrant was executed at 7.45am on Monday, June 8, 2018. Various items were seized, including a black Acer laptop from the living room.

“When asked who they belonged to, he replied ‘me’ and, when asked if anyone else had access to it, he replied ‘no.’

“He was asked for any passwords or PIN numbers, which he provided to officers.”
Blair was interviewed and admitted using the laptop, saying he had been viewing porn sites that contain “everything.”

Computer experts examined the laptop seized from Blair and found five images ranked as ‘Category A’ – the most extreme there is.

One of the images featured a young girl, aged around 13, lying naked on a bed as she was forced to perform a sex act on a man.

A further 10 images were classed as ‘Category B’ and there were 75 images described as ‘Category C.’

As she adjourned sentencing until later this month, Sheriff McCartney told Blair: “Because you have no previous convictions and have not served a period of imprisonment before, I need to call for a criminal justice social work report.”

Blair could be caged for the offences, which he committed between March 2012 and August last year, when he returns to the dock to learn his fate.

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