A CLYDEBANK man who left his post as a golf club’s youth convener after being caught with indecent pictures of children has been spared a jail term.

Donal Ferrie appeared in court on Thursday after pleading guilty to taking, or permitting to be taken, a total of 33 images – two at ‘category B’ level and the rest at ‘category C’, regarded as the lowest level of seriousness.

The 53-year-old first offender, of Waverley in Drumry’s Onslow Road, admitted being in possession of the images between February 24 and June 26 last year at an address in Strathclyde Road, Dumbarton.

A previous court hearing was told police launched a probe into Ferrie after getting a tip that an indecent image had been uploaded.

The IP address was attributed to Ferrie’s then home address in Alclutha Avenue, Dumbarton, and at Dumbarton Golf Club.

A search warrant served on June 26, 2018 retrieved mobile phones including a Samsung Galaxy S8 which was found to have a number of images.

The pictures depicted children aged around seven to 13 years old and appeared to be screenshots; the court was told the source of the images could not be determined.

A court hearing last month was told there was no evidence to suggest Ferrie – who had said to police “I’m not a criminal”, when he was arrested – had shared or otherwise distributed the images.

A background report from social workers was ordered prior to Ferrie’s sentencing.

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Thursday, Ferrie’s solicitor, Jonathan Paul, told Sheriff Simon Pender: “This offence has had, and will have, a devastating impact upon his life.

“He has, until this offence, been in gainful employment, but he lost a good job through this offence. He has also lost a long-term loving relationship.

“He is actively looking for work, but given the nature of this offence he accepts that work of a more menial nature is the only employment option available to him.

“He accepts full responsibility, and is remorseful. I would submit that it would be open to your Lordship to deal with this matter by way of an alternative to custody.”

Sheriff Pender told Ferrie: “I take account of the fact that this case involves a small number of images, mainly at category C level.

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“I also take account of the remorse you have expressed, and the assessment in the report that you are at a lower than average risk of reoffending.”

Ferrie was handed a community payback order which will see him supervised by social workers until April 2021, with a requirement to attend any counselling or course in respect of sexual offending required by his supervisor. He was also told to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work within nine months, and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for two years.