EX-HIGH COURT LAWYER JAILED FOR CHILD ABUSE IMAGES

A retired High Court advocate who previously practiced law and later became a crime novelist has been sentenced to 12 months in jail after being found guilty of possessing a large collection of child abuse images. The offender, John Mayer, aged 72, was arrested with over 500 images depicting the sexual abuse of children, some as young as 12 months old, dating from August 2019 to January 2021. Mayer attempted to conceal his illegal activity by deleting the images and using software to hide traces of his online activity. Despite denying the charges, he was convicted by a jury after a three-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in December. Sheriff's Iain Nicol emphasized the seriousness of the crime, stating that the sentence was intended to serve as a deterrent and that the criminal conduct met the custody threshold. Mayer, who has since moved to Exeter, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years. During his trial, forensic analyst David McGowan detailed that the images included children aged between one and 14 engaged in non-penetrative and penetrative sexual activities with other children and adults. Mayer claimed to have never seen the images but was convicted on two charges of possessing indecent images of children, following whose verdict he was jailed and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.