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Former friends of a depraved Murray man charged over child porn charges have branded his sentence “disgusting”.

Twisted Scott Gallagher was caught with 10,000 indecent images of kids.

Yet last week he escaped being sent to jail at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

Gallagher, of Livingstone Drive, evaded prosecution for seven years but was finally snared following a tip-off from the National Online Child Abuse Prevention Agency in 2017.

Seen as a first offender, the 28-year-old initially denied any wrongdoing, but eventually admitted possessing the images to a sheriff last November.

Earlier this month he was placed under supervision for two years and ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work – he was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 24 months.

Now his estranged pals have turned against him, calling his sentence “appalling”.

Talking to the East Kilbride News, they lifted the lid on the jobless pervert, describing him as a manipulative introvert who fooled everyone around him.

Calling him a “loner,” one former pal told us: “I’m appalled at his sentence.

“Considering the sheer amount of images he accessed over such a long period of time, he should have been jailed.

“He hid a huge chunk of who he really is to friends and family for years.

“On the outside he had a normal looking life, he even had a girlfriend.

“But he didn’t go out much and was happy just to sit at his computer – now we know why.”

Cops discovered the vile images on computer equipment in Gallagher’s bedroom, uncovering a total of 9954 photographs and nine videos.

All of the material was classified as category C, the lowest level of seriousness, and featured girls thought to be aged between just eight and 15-years old.

Another former pal told the News of Gallagher’s “high intelligence” and “vast knowledge of computers”. He alleged that, since his computer was confiscated by police, creep Gallagher has built another device from scratch.

Our source added: “He has shown no remorse for this.

“He convinced people close to him that it was a mistake and that he downloaded a few dodgy files – but he knew exactly what he was doing.

“He is an intelligent guy leading a double life who knows computers inside and out – that’s why he got away with it for so long.”

Another friend said that introvert Gallagher was actually “charming,” saying that nobody thought he could have done this.

She said: “But he is manipulative and controlling, hiding behind this shy loner persona.

“He has no intention of getting a job and spends almost all of his time at home working on his computers, ‘fixing’ his hard drives.

“The sentence he received is extremely disappointing, but unfortunately unsurprising.

“It will have no impact on his life. He still believes that he has done nothing wrong.”