KEIR HARDIE INVERNESS CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENDER ESCAPES JAIL IN SHOCKING CASE
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Inverness community, Keir Hardie, a 42-year-old man, narrowly avoided imprisonment after admitting to possessing indecent images and videos of children at his former residence in Madras Street, Inverness.The court heard that Hardie’s offenses spanned from August 24, 2011, to February 21 of the following year, during which he took or allowed the taking of photographs or pseudo-photos of minors.
Additionally, he possessed such material with the apparent intent of sharing or displaying it to others, a serious breach of the law.
Legal proceedings revealed that police were alerted on February 20 last year when investigators traced Hardie’s IP address.
Following this tip-off, authorities seized his devices for examination.
The investigation uncovered a significant collection of illicit material stored on an external hard drive, which included 140 images and 12 videos, along with three thumbnail images.
These images were classified on a severity scale used by law enforcement, ranging from level one to level five, with some depicting highly disturbing content.
Prosecutor Alison Wylie detailed the nature of the material to the court, stating that the images predominantly featured young girls.
The more severe, level four images, depicted girls being restrained or tied up.
The videos showed young girls exposing themselves or engaging in masturbation.
Wylie further disclosed that Hardie had specifically searched for images of girls aged 13 and 14.
She explained that Hardie claimed his interest was driven by boredom, initially viewing adult material before progressing to more disturbing content.
He also admitted to forgetting to delete certain images immediately, citing curiosity as a motive.
Hardie maintained that he was aware that using file-sharing software would make these images accessible to others, but he denied actively contacting or informing anyone about their presence.
During the hearing, Hardie’s defense lawyer, Marc Dickson, highlighted that his client suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism.
Dickson explained that Hardie had been in a long-term, stable relationship, which recently transitioned into cohabitation, and that he had moved to Admiralty Street in Edinburgh, describing this as a positive development.
Regarding the charges, Dickson argued that Hardie’s initial access was to mainstream adult pornography, and that the possession of child images was a technical offense related to the software he used, which allowed for file sharing.
He emphasized that there was no evidence to suggest Hardie had taken steps to distribute the images or had engaged in contact with others about them.
Hardie’s cooperation with police was acknowledged, with his remorse and efforts to seek help from a child sexual abuse prevention organization called “Stop It Now” being noted.
The court was informed that he also receives support for his Asperger’s condition in Edinburgh.
Despite the gravity of the offense, Sheriff David Sutherland considered the case to be at the lower end of such offenses and decided that a custodial sentence was unnecessary.
Instead, he imposed a community payback order for three years, which includes supervision, 250 hours of unpaid work, and participation in a sex offenders’ groupwork program.
The sheriff also mandated that Hardie must refrain from contact with children under 17 unless approved by his supervising officer, restrict his internet use, and permit inspections of his digital media by authorities to ensure compliance with the conditions set forth to protect the public from further harm.
