GEORGE STATES FLEEING TO BULGARIA AFTER INDECENT IMAGE DISCOVERY IN LEITH

In December 2012, George States fled to Bulgaria for three years following the discovery of indecent images of young girls on his computer. The incident came to light after his cleaner found inappropriate photographs on his device. Advocate depute Suzanne Tanner told the High Court in Edinburgh that States' Toshiba laptop, which was on a desk to the right of the room, was turned on and displaying a slideshow of images. The cleaner saw four photos of girls aged around nine or ten, posing in an inappropriate manner.

Police responded to the flat on Iona Street with a search warrant and seized the computer equipment, which was later examined by experts. The investigation uncovered a total of 265,242 still images and 1,233 video clips, most of which were classified as low-tier material.

States, then 67 years old, appeared before the court in July 2009 and was released on bail. However, he failed to attend a scheduled court hearing the following March, prompting the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.

Despite an order to surrender his passport—imposed as a condition of bail—States, a father of three, was eventually traced to Bulgaria. He was arrested there on August 12 of that year and returned to Scotland approximately three weeks later.

On Wednesday, States appeared from custody and admitted to creating indecent images or pseudo-photos between December 2007 and July 2009. He also pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his bail.

Judge Lord Turnbull ordered background reports and remanded States into custody, with sentencing scheduled for the following month.