July 2023 Sheriff slams paedophile University Challenge contestant A University Challenge contestant who preyed on young girls has been jailed for 16 months and branded a “nasty, perverted little spider” by a sheriff. Andrew Newton sent indecent messages to girls as young as 12 and attempted to persuade them to meet him for sex, Inverness Sheriff Court was told. The 30-year-old – who represented St Andrews University when he appeared on the long-running BBC quiz show in 2012 – was also found to have accessed indecent images of children. Newton, 30, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having been found guilty of four charges by a jury earlier this year. The former maths student was convicted of describing sexual acts to a 12-year-old girl and attempting to induce her to meet him for sexual intercourse, as well as sending her an image of a penis. Jurors also found him guilty of describing sexual acts and making indecent comments to two other girls, both as young as 14. He asked one of them to send indecent images and tried to convince her to meet him for sexual intercourse. Newton, of East Main Street, Broxburn, (formerly of Inverness) returned to the dock for sentencing on these charges as well as one of taking, permitting to be taken or making indecent images of children Sheriff Ian Cruickshank noted how Newton had contacted the girls using a profile under a pseudonym and had subsequently consistently denied responsibility for the messages, despite damning evidence to the contrary. He said: “You contacted two of the girls and attempted to induce them to meet with you for sexual intercourse. “You sent one girl a picture of a naked penis when she was 12 years old.” Newton was jailed for 16 months and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years