VICE-SHAME SOLICITOR IS SPARED JAIL
A SOLICITOR who begged a prostitute to arrange sex with a mum and an under-age girl has been spared jail.Ian Donnelly had sneaked out of his office for the sordid encounter in November 2005, but the shocked vice-girl called police and he was arrested.
Officers later found a stash of child porn on his home computer.
The incident happened weeks after he sent an explicit letter to an ex-lover.
Married Donnelly admitted to a string of charges at Glasgow Sheriff Court last summer, but sentencing was repeatedly delayed due to unavailability of reports.
Sheriff Alistair Noble put him on three years' probation and ordered him to do 180 hours of community service.
The court heard Donnelly had initially met the prostitute in Glasgow on November 1, 2005, after spending the day in hospital caring for his sick father.
He made "a request" that alarmed her enough to later call police.
However, the woman arranged to meet him the next day.
Fiona Holligan, prosecuting, said when he arrived he asked if she was "able to get a threesome".
The fiscal went on: "Donnelly said he hoped it would be a young mum in her 20s and that the child had to be under 11." The woman was "alarmed and distressed" by the request and the 43-year-old returned to the offices of personal injury solicitors Lloyd Green in the city's Cadogan Square.
Police later found Donnelly's DNA in the flat.
He was detained at work, but initially denied the allegations.
Officers then searched his home in Stonelaw Road, Rutherglen, and found 320 indecent images.
Weeks earlier, Donnelly was arrested after his ex-partner and colleague received an explicit letter.
Ian Duguid, defending, said Donnelly had since lost his job.
He would have been automatically struck off had he been jailed for two years or more.
He was placed on the sex offenders' register for three years and ordered to attend counselling.
