LARKHALL SOLDIER FRASER WADDELL ESCAPES JAIL AFTER CHILD ABUSE IMAGE SCANDAL IN NORTH-EAST FIFE AND LANARKSHIRE

In a case that has sent shockwaves through the local community, Fraser Waddell, a soldier from Larkhall, has been involved in a series of disturbing incidents that culminated in his arrest for possessing indecent images of children and threatening police officers. The events unfolded at RAF Leuchars, a prominent military base in north-east Fife, where police executed a raid on Waddell’s quarters in February 2018. During this operation, officers discovered a cache of highly disturbing child abuse images stored on his mobile device, some of which were classified at the most severe end of the scale used to measure such material.

Waddell, who was serving as a private in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, was taken into custody following the raid. The investigation revealed that he had actively sought out these illicit images, as evidenced by search terms found on his device. When asked to provide the PIN for his phone, Waddell initially claimed it was not his, but it was later established that the device belonged to his ex-partner, who stated she had given it to him. The police found 21 indecent images of children within the Google Chrome browser cache on the device.

Adding to the concerns, a month after the raid, Waddell made a series of threatening phone calls to Police Scotland’s Tayside Division in Dundee. During these calls, he threatened to locate a specific officer and to kill him and others, displaying a dangerous level of hostility and intent. These threats, coupled with his previous behavior, painted a troubling picture of Waddell’s mental state and intentions.

Waddell, aged 21 and residing on Macmillan Street in Larkhall, faced multiple charges. He pleaded guilty to a charge of taking or making indecent images of children on May 24 of the previous year, while his plea to possessing extreme pornographic images was accepted by prosecutors. At the time of his arrest, he was on two separate bail orders, which further complicated his legal situation.

In court, Sheriff Alastair Brown sentenced Waddell to a community payback order, requiring him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work over a period of time, along with two years of supervised conduct and internet use restrictions. The sheriff emphasized the gravity of the offense, stating, “Every one of these images represents the real abuse of a real child, and by providing an audience, you encourage such conduct. If you make excuses for yourself and indulge any sexual interest in children, it will only lead you into more trouble.” Additionally, Waddell was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of five years.

Waddell’s criminal history also includes a previous incident in January 2017, when he was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work and one year of supervision for threatening police officers. During that episode, he called Dundee HQ demanding the return of his computer equipment seized during a raid on his army barracks room and shouted threats of violence against officers. His aggressive behavior did not stop there; in March of the same year, just weeks before his child abuse image arrest, he was fined £1,000 for impersonating a police officer. This incident involved Waddell following two friends along the M74 after they left a McDonald’s in Lanarkshire, pulling them over on the hard shoulder while dressed in body armor and a peaked cap, falsely claiming to be a police officer and warning the driver about her fog lights.

The women involved reported the incident to real police, providing part of the registration of the white Ford Fiesta Waddell was driving. Authorities traced the vehicle, and Waddell subsequently surrendered himself to the police, admitting to impersonating a police constable with intent to deceive. His actions, combined with his previous threats and possession of illicit images, have raised serious concerns about his conduct and the potential risk he poses to the community.