Police officer admits having child sexual abuse images Published duration 28 June 2018

image copyright Watchtower Media image caption James Paul was suspended from his job as a constable with Police Scotland before resigning

A former police officer has admitted having images of children being sexually abused.

James Paul was caught with the indecent images on a computer and a USB stick at his home in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, in December 2017.

The 37-year-old was suspended from his job as a constable with Police Scotland before resigning.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard he was working as a community police officer at the time of his arrest.

Paul kept the images, which included pictures of children being bound and raped, at the property he shared with his wife and children.

He admitted being in possession of the illegal images while working as a police officer, in a role believed to involve him visiting schools on a regular basis.

Paul appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court to plead guilty to the single charge against him - being in possession of indecent images of children.

The court heard his police colleagues raided his £250,000 five-bedroom home after receiving intelligence that indecent images of children were being stored at the address.

'Most extreme images'

Procurator fiscal depute Pamela Brady said 33 images were found on a black Lenovo laptop and a further five were found on a USB stick.

The prosecutor said that, of the 33 found on the laptop, five were categorised by experts as being the most extreme form of child sex abuse images there are.

Seven of the images on the laptop were categorised as being the next extreme and 21 images were rated as being at category C - the least extreme.

A further five images - all rated as being category C, were found on a USB stick Paul's wife used for work, which he began using to store the illegal images.

Sheriff Susan Sinclair called for background reports to be prepared ahead of sentencing.

She deferred sentence until August and placed him on the sex offenders register.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the officer's appearance at court today and we await the full outcome of court proceedings."