SIMON BISHOP

HIGHLAND MAN AVOIDS JAIL AFTER BEING CAUGHT WITH VILE CHILD ABUSE VIDEOS AND IMAGES

A man from Inverness has been spared imprisonment after being found with over 95 minutes of disturbing videos and a large collection of indecent images of children.

Police executed a search of Simon Bishop’s Highland residence following intelligence reports, which led to the discovery of illicit material.

Investigators seized two devices, an Acer laptop and a gaming laptop, revealing a total of 303 indecent still images and nine videos featuring children.

The sexual content was inaccessible to the devices' users but was consistent with the internet searches performed on them, as explained by the prosecution.

Bishop, aged 43, previously admitted to a charge related to the possession of child abuse material.

Despite his diagnosis of autism and Asperger's syndrome, the court's judge, Sheriff Gary Aitken, emphasized there was no justification for consuming content depicting children being harmed.

Instead of jail, Bishop received a community payback order with three years of supervision, participation in the Moving Forward Making Changes Programme, and a five-year sexual harm prevention order, restricting his contact with minors and monitoring his internet access.

Bishop will remain on the sex offender register for five years, underscoring the seriousness of his crimes.