ANDREW BELL HORSE TRAINER FROM HAWICK ADDED TO SEX OFFENDER REGISTER AFTER CHILD PORNOGRAPHY DISCOVERY

In a disturbing case that has shocked the community of Hawick, Andrew Bell, a self-employed horse trainer and dog walker, has been formally placed on the Sex Offender’s Register following his admission to possessing a significant collection of indecent images of children. The incident came to light after police uncovered over 1,300 illicit images on Bell’s personal computer, which was located at his residence on Ruberslaw Road.

Bell, aged 42 at the time, appeared before Jedburgh Sheriff Court to face charges related to the possession of these images. He pleaded guilty to the offences, which spanned from May 2014 until July 29 of the previous year. The court was informed that the images included some of the most severe category A material, with 157 images depicting penetrative sexual acts involving children. Among these disturbing images was a single moving picture showing an adult female engaging in oral sex with an animal, highlighting the grotesque nature of the material stored on his device.

Procurator Fiscal Graham Fraser provided details of the police investigation, revealing that officers discovered a total of 116 images classified as category B, which involved non-penetrative sexual activities, alongside 1,053 images categorized as C, which are considered less severe but still illegal. The total number of indecent images found on Bell’s computer amounted to 1,327, a figure that underscores the extent of his illicit activities.

Mr. Fraser explained that police had received information indicating that someone at Bell’s address was accessing and viewing indecent images via the internet. Acting on this intelligence, authorities executed a search warrant at his home on July 31, 2015. During police interviews, Bell admitted to searching for terms such as “pre-teen” and “teen” when browsing for such material. He also confessed that these searches often took place late at night, typically after he had been drinking alcohol or smoking cannabis, which he claimed impaired his judgment at the time.

Following the guilty plea, Sheriff Peter Paterson decided to defer sentencing until June 13. In the meantime, he ordered that Bell’s name be entered onto the Sex Offender’s Register, a measure that reflects the seriousness of the offences and aims to monitor his activities moving forward.