ZACH AL-KINDY AVOIDS JAIL AFTER POSSESSING CHILD AND ANIMAL SEX OFFENSIVE MATERIAL IN EAST AYRSHIRE

A sex offender has escaped imprisonment after being found with videos and images depicting child abuse and bestiality. Zacharia Al-Kindy was discovered with illegal material, including videos of toddlers being raped and individuals engaging in sex with dogs and horses. The 28-year-old was found with this disturbing content stored in the 'Downloads' folder of his laptop, which was kept in his bedroom at his home shared with his mother.

His legal representative explained that Al-Kindy began seeking out such material amidst personal tragedies, including the deaths of his father and a sibling. These details came to light during his appearance at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, where he was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to charges of possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

Prosecutor Meghan Glancey outlined that Police Scotland executed a search warrant at his residence on January 19, 2021. Although Al-Kindy was not present, his mother granted officers entry. During the search, officers uncovered 123 indecent images of children on his laptop, with 84 classified as the most extreme category. These images had been downloaded between August 12, 2020, and January 16, 2021, and included a 33-minute-long video. Additionally, six extreme pornographic images depicted adults engaging in sex acts with animals such as dogs and horses.

Defence counsel Simon Brown stated that Al-Kindy, known as Zach, showed full cooperation during interviews with social workers prior to sentencing. Brown remarked, "He has insight into his offending. He had a very difficult upbringing, suffering the death of his father and a sibling within a very short period of time, which had a significant impact on him. He kept himself to himself and was isolated, which seems to have contributed to the circumstances leading to this behaviour."

Sheriff George Jamieson criticized Al-Kindy for his involvement with such material, emphasizing that viewing or possessing indecent images fuels ongoing abuse. The court ordered him to be placed on the Sex Offenders' Register and imposed a three-year Community Payback Order.

He was also instructed to attend the 'Moving Forward, Making Changes' programme, aimed at helping sex offenders reform, and was prohibited from having unsupervised contact with anyone under 16. Furthermore, Al-Kindy was only permitted to own one mobile phone and one laptop, both of which had to be surrendered to social workers and police for monitoring, upon request.