CRAIG BENCE/CRAIG ROBERTSON JAILED IN DUNDEE FOR VIEWING AND SHARING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IMAGES

In July 2017, Craig Robertson, also known as Craig Bence, was sentenced to three years in prison at Dundee Sheriff Court for accessing and distributing highly serious child sexual abuse images via the Dark Web. Despite being under a strict court order imposed after a 2010 conviction for a similar offence, Robertson, 32, from Main Street, Leuchars, logged onto a hidden Russian website and downloaded hundreds of images and videos of children, many classified as the most severe category by police experts.

He then used an instant messaging service to share these images with other paedophiles online. When questioned by police, Robertson insisted, “I would never harm a child,” but admitted to being attracted to children. The court was told that he possessed a total of 278 videos, with 229 categorized as Category A — depicting rape and torture of children — and 457 still images, 217 of which were also Category A.

The police, who seized his computer during an unrelated visit, found over 2,000 disturbing images of child abuse. Further investigations revealed additional indecent material, with 1,705 images, including some at the highest level of severity on the Copine Scale.

In court, solicitor Anika Jethwa highlighted that Robertson had attended a rehabilitation course and was suffering from mental health issues, admitting he had used file-sharing software and was under the influence of cannabis at the time. The court noted this was not his first offence; in 2010, known then as Craig Bence, he was jailed for ten months after officers discovered more than 2,000 abusive images on his computer.

Sheriff Alastair Brown emphasized the gravity of the offences, stating, “Every one of these images represents the actual abuse of a real child. By providing an audience for them you encourage that abuse and by distributing them you make it worse.” Robertson was also placed on the sex offenders register for life as part of his sentence.