CRAIG BANNATYNE FROM MOTHERWELL SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENSES AND ILLEGAL IMAGES

In April 2017, Craig Bannatyne, a 22-year-old army cadet sergeant from Motherwell, was sentenced to 21 months in prison after being convicted of serious child abuse crimes, including filming himself engaging in sexual acts with a young boy. The case came to light after a 15-year-old cadet discovered Bannatyne’s mobile phone taped to the wall of a gents toilet within the cadet hall, raising suspicions of covert recording activities. It was later revealed that Bannatyne had been attempting to secretly record young recruits at the urinals by setting his iPhone to record video footage, an act that demonstrated a disturbing pattern of predatory behavior.

Following this discovery, authorities launched a comprehensive investigation. On January 30 of the previous year, police officers raided Bannatyne’s residence in Motherwell, where they seized a laptop from his bedroom. The digital device contained 21 images classified as Category A, the most severe level of child abuse imagery, depicting adults sexually assaulting children as young as six months old. Further forensic analysis uncovered even more disturbing material, including footage of Bannatyne forcing a 12-year-old boy to perform sexual acts on him. Bannatyne, overwhelmed during police interviews, admitted that the laptop was his and acknowledged the presence of indecent images of children.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting the young boy and possessing illegal images of children. Additionally, Bannatyne admitted to sending a large volume of text messages to his victim, with a total of 4,234 messages exchanged over a period from June 18, 2014, to July 19, 2015. The court heard detailed evidence of this communication, highlighting the extent of Bannatyne’s inappropriate and predatory conduct.

During the sentencing hearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court, Bannatyne’s defense lawyer emphasized that his client came from a supportive and stable family background and acknowledged the seriousness of the charges. The lawyer argued that Bannatyne’s offending began when he was 18 years old, with the most severe acts occurring when he was 20, suggesting a progression of troubling behavior. The defense contended that the court should consider whether a custodial sentence or a community-based order was appropriate, given the circumstances.

However, Sheriff Ray Small expressed concern over the gravity of Bannatyne’s offenses, particularly the sexual assault involving a minor. He stated that due to the serious nature of the crimes, only a custodial sentence would suffice. Ultimately, Sheriff Small sentenced Bannatyne to 21 months in prison and ordered that he be supervised for an additional 12 months following his release. Bannatyne was also placed on the sex offender register for a period of 10 years and was explicitly told that he should never work with children again. The sheriff further recommended to the Scottish Ministers that Bannatyne be deemed unsuitable for employment involving children, given the severity of his offenses.

In a related incident in March 2017, Bannatyne was caught attempting to secretly film junior cadets in a changing room. He concealed his phone inside a cardboard box and set it to record young male cadets as they used the toilet and showers. The suspicious package was noticed by a 15-year-old cadet, who promptly raised the alarm. Bannatyne, also from Motherwell, was confronted by senior cadets and police were called to the scene. An investigation uncovered footage of Bannatyne sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy, along with dozens of indecent photographs of children as young as six months old, stored on a laptop seized from his home.

Bannatyne admitted to hiding his phone in a toilet at the cadet hall in an attempt to capture images of boys in undress. He also confessed to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy, sending sexually explicit messages to a cadet, and possessing child sexual abuse images and videos. Prosecutor Callum Forsyth detailed that Bannatyne had taped his phone to the wall of a toilet at the cadet hall in January of the previous year, with the device partially hidden by a pipe. A 15-year-old cadet noticed the device while using the urinal, leading to police intervention. A subsequent search of Bannatyne’s Motherwell home revealed a laptop containing 72 indecent images downloaded from various websites, along with a video showing Bannatyne sexually assaulting a young boy, recorded in June 2015 in Bannatyne’s bedroom. Bannatyne admitted to the police that the images were on his laptop and broke down during questioning about the sexual assault.

Further examination of Bannatyne’s phone revealed over 4,000 messages exchanged with a cadet aged between 13 and 15 over a 13-month period. The messages included references to a “soft spot” for the boy and contained sexual undertones, with Bannatyne becoming visibly agitated when the boy did not reciprocate his feelings. The court deferred sentencing until April 27 to allow for background reports and a risk assessment. Bannatyne’s bail was continued, and the judge, Sheriff Ray Small, acknowledged the seriousness of the charges, emphasizing the disturbing nature of his conduct and the need for appropriate punishment.