Court / Prison sentence for indecent images and bail breaches

6 December 2018 12:20

A MAN who downloaded over 150 indecent images and videos of children – including while he was on bail – has been sent to prison for over two years.

Andrew Goodlad, whose address was given as Grampian Prison, previously pleaded guilty at Lerwick Sheriff Court to the charge which took place on or between 25 September 2017 and 12 July this year at an address in Lerwick while he was on bail.

The court previously heard that the initial offence came to light when police asked to see the 25-year-old’s mobile phone to “timestamp” an unrelated incident which they were taking a statement for.

Around 90 indecent videos in total were found on devices owned by Goodlad, with 43 of them in the most serious ‘A’ category.

A total of 73 indecent images were discovered, as well as 85 thumbnail previews of images.

Goodlad had also admitted breaching bail conditions on a number of occasions between April and July this year.

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Defence agent Tommy Allan said at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday that it was “patently obvious” that work needed to be done with Goodlad over how he came to commit the offence.

But he suggested Goodlad – who appeared from custody – did not have a full “insight” into the offence due to his development in early life.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank told Goodlad: “I’m not sure that you quite appreciate how serious these offences are”.

He added that in a social work report Goodlad said he accessed the content due to “boredom and stupidity”.

The sheriff also reiterated that the 25-year-old continued to download images after his first court appearance.

Sheriff Cruickshank gave Goodlad an extended sentence of 41 months for the indecent images charge, which consisted of 17 months in custody and a further 24 months on licence.

But he was given a further ten months in custody for his repeated bail breaches – bringing his total prison sentence to 27 months, backdated to when he first entered custody in July.

Goodlad was also placed on the sex offenders register.

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