JAMIE SHIEL

A man from a Scottish county has been sentenced to a term exceeding three years for instructing a mother to sexually abuse her own child and demanding photographic evidence of the abuse.

Jamie Shiel, aged 23, contacted the woman via the Kik messaging service, instructing her to undress her daughter and perform sexual acts on her.

He also pleaded guilty to other offences against the child that are too graphic to be disclosed publicly.

Hailing from Ashgrove, Musselburgh, Shiel had previously downloaded hundreds of child abuse images onto his phone and shared some with others online.

During a court hearing recently, a sheriff condemned Shiel's conduct as "sickening and degrading" and sentenced him to 37 months in prison.

He was also ordered to be placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

The sheriff, Matthew Auchincloss, stated: "Your level of responsibility is very high, especially concerning the charges that involve significant harm to the child." He continued: "Encouraging a mother to abuse her daughter is utterly sickening.

I am convinced that your actions have caused damage that may be enduring for the victims.

In my view, only imprisonment is suitable in this case." Police investigations began after they acted on information that Shiel had uploaded indecent images of children to Snapchat in July 2022.

Officers found him with his parents at his residence.

An initial search of his phone uncovered approximately 50 indecent images of children aged between two and 12.

Prosecutor Oliver Davidson-Richards explained that subsequent searches revealed hundreds of videos and images depicting the sexual abuse of young boys and girls stored on the device.

In addition, Shiel was found to have shared some of these images with multiple contacts on Kik in March and April 2022.