July 2015 Paedophile sentenced to 160 hours of unpaid work for possession of child abuse images A sheriff had previously described the number of pictures held by Brian Ball as being “hundreds or thousands”. The 60-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of minors and to taking or permitting to be taken indecent pictures of children between October 2005 and May last year. He further admitted possessing extreme pornographic images depicting, in an explicit and realistic way, acts involving sexual activity between a person and an animal. Ball, of Thistleneuk, appeared for sentencing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week. Gail Campbell, defending, told the court there were several medical issues which may have hindered Ball’s ability to carry out unpaid work although light duties may be manageable. Sheriff William Gallacher previously said Ball’s stance with social workers and apparent initial refusal to accept full responsibility had left him with limited sentencing options, adding at an earlier hearing: “This is not one or two images — we are talking hundreds or thousands and his perspective ‘it’s nothing to do with me’ is very difficult.” Sentencing him last week, the sheriff said: “The offence to which you pleaded guilty is a serious one. It is not an incident which concerns you and no one else. There is harm that is caused to a wide variety of people over a period of time.” Ball was ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work within six months. He was placed under supervision for two years. June 2015 Old Kilpatrick paedophile possessed thousands of child abuse images A PAEDOPHILE from Old Kilpatrick who pleaded guilty to having thousands of child abuse images is due to return to court for sentencing. Brian Ball, 53, appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week having previously pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at his home at Thistleneuk. Ball was due to to be sentenced at his appearance on Tuesday, May 26, but his lawyer Gail Campbell asked for the case to be continued as he had told social workers putting together a background report that the images were not his responsibility. Sheriff William Gallacher warned Ball that the options open to him for sanctioning his behaviour were ‘limited’ given his stance to social workers. He said: “This is not one or two images — we are talking hundreds or thousands and his perspective ‘it’s nothing to do with me’ is very difficult.” The sheriff adjourned sentence until June 10 for Ms Campbell to have further discussion with Ball regarding a possible plea in mitigation.