GARRY ALLMARK, IRVINE SEX OFFENDER, CAUGHT USING FALSE NAMES AND GROOMING CHILDREN

In September 2022, Garry Allmark, a 50-year-old sex offender from Irvine, was fined after being caught using two false online identities without informing authorities, breaching his strict court orders from February to October of the previous year.

Allmark failed to notify police within three days about his use of the alias ‘Billy Mark,’ and between July and October last year, he also used the name ‘Joe Bell.’

When he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Monday, August 29, his solicitor, Brian Holliman, told the sheriff, Murdoch MacTaggart, that these breaches stemmed from a ‘lack of understanding’ rather than malicious intent. Holliman stated, “He has fully taken advice from police and social workers. It is a by and large positive [social work] report – clearly he has found the last three years difficult.”

Sheriff MacTaggart imposed a fine of £200, along with a £20 contribution to the Scottish Government’s victim surcharge fund.

Previously, Allmark was involved in a sting operation by the Scotland Anti Predator Alliance (SAPA), which led to charges after he attempted to meet what he believed was a 12-year-old girl. SAPA operatives confronted him at a flat in Ardrossan where he was living with his wife and eight-year-old son, having caught him online during an investigation.

In earlier reports, it was noted that after his 2019 charges, the Procurator Fiscal Depute detailed that between March 30 and May 5, 2018, Allmark was in communication with a person he thought was a child under 13, but was in fact engaging with SAPA. Police obtained messages exchanged between him and the decoy, which led to his arrest.

Allmark, who has been on the Sex Offenders’ Register and under a three-year Community Payback Order, received court conditions including no contact with children under 16, staying out of parks and public areas frequented by children, and device registration and checks.

In May 2019, a separate incident occurred where Allmark, then 46 and residing in Irvine, also fell into SAPA’s trap while living in Glasgow Street with his family. He sent explicit images, including one of a male’s genitals and others depicting women performing sexual acts, amounting to 410 pages of text evidence.

He pleaded guilty to attempting to have sexual communication with a minor and sending sexual images. In exchange, other charges were dropped.

Prosecutor Jo Cunningham explained that between March and May 2018, Allmark believed he was communicating with a young girl under 13 and attempted to groom her. During police interviews, he admitted to talking with what he thought was a 12-year-old girl, acknowledging the illegality but asserting he was ‘not a paedophile.’

He was sentenced to a three-year community payback order, required to register as a sex offender for three years, and ordered to complete a rehabilitation program.

The court conditions also prohibit contact with children under 16, entering parks or public places where children are present, and registration and monitoring of any devices used.

Earlier that year, in February 2019, Allmark's attempt to groom what he believed was a 12-year-old girl was similarly exposed through SAPA, with operatives recording his messages and confronting him in Irvine. He again pleaded guilty to attempting sexual communication with a minor under Scottish law, with the case adjourned for sentencing, where the sheriff ordered him to be placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register pending further reports.