A former Ayrshire police officer has been jailed for 12 months after being convicted of downloading and possessing indecent images of children at his home in Prestwick.
Barry Sommerville, 52, returned to Ayr Sheriff Court on Monday, August 24, after a jury unanimously found him guilty following a trial. The court heard that the offences took place between November 22, 2017, and February 29, 2024, at an address on Clune Drive.
Sommerville was convicted of taking, permitting to be taken or making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children, as well as possessing the images. He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years and will remain a registered sex offender for 10 years.
Evidence recovered from devices
Prosecutors and the defence agreed that several electronic devices were seized and examined after Police Scotland carried out a search warrant at the property. They included an Apple iMac and a black hard-drive tower.
A joint minute read to the jury stated that the iMac contained 23 indecent images and two videos. The hard-drive tower contained 90 indecent images and one video, although most of the material was inaccessible because it had been deleted.
The court also heard that about 4,000 examples of child-abuse “fantasy literature” were found. Those materials were deemed not unlawful.
A forensic computer analyst from the Police Scotland cybercrime unit told the trial that some of the recovered images were classified as the most extreme category A material.
Defence based on illegal film downloads
Sommerville gave evidence in his own defence and said he had been using the dark web to illegally pirate films. He told police he was “IT literate”, but denied searching for anything involving children.
He said that he, his wife and son had access to the devices, which he claimed were used for photographs of wildlife and landscapes, music and films. He also told the court that he had used Pirate Bay after other film-download sites began to close.
Sommerville denied knowing that child sexual exploitation material was present. He said: “I had nothing to hide and no knowledge [of the content], if I had, I would have had a solicitor and said no comment.” When asked whether he knew about child sexual exploitation abuse material, he replied: “absolutely not” and “never, absolutely never”.
Asked about the fantasy literature, he said: “I did not know that was there”. He also told the court that when films were downloaded, additional files could be created, but that he did not look at them and deleted what he described as unwanted material.
The jury took just over an hour to reach its verdict.
Judge says prison sentence was unavoidable
At the sentencing hearing, defence advocate Gavin Dewar said the case had been continued for further medical reports. He said Sommerville maintained the position he had taken during the trial and argued that an alternative to prison should be considered, while accepting that the custody threshold had been passed.
Mr Dewar told the court: “This is a terrible offence, and the seriousness is not lost on Mr Sommerville.” He added that his client would obey any conditions imposed.
Sheriff Siobhan Connelly said the jury had convicted Sommerville on two charges and that he was responsible for the offences and aware of their illegality and harm.
She said: “Each images represents a course of abuse.” The sheriff noted there was little to reduce the seriousness of the case beyond Sommerville’s lack of previous convictions. She said he had gone to significant effort to conceal the images and that his former employment as a police officer aggravated the offence.
Sheriff Connelly also said Sommerville’s denials meant he was not suitable for treatment. She concluded: “Nothing other than a custody sentence is appropriate.”
The 12-month prison sentence, five-year sexual harm prevention order and 10-year registration period followed.
