A PAEDOPHILE was caught with 70,000 indecent images of children stored on a hard drive in his Kilmacolm home just months after being released from prison for an identical crime.
Sex offender Craig Johnstone, who was jailed for a year and a half in February 2021 after being found with a similarly sick haul of photos and videos, was re-arrested in October 2023 following a police raid of his property.
Officers executing a search warrant recovered a hard drive from a chest of drawers in the bedroom of his home in the village and 40-year-old Johnstone "immediately took ownership of it", Greenock Sheriff Court heard.
The man pleaded guilty to two indictment offences at a hearing and will be sentenced later this year.
A procurator fiscal depute told the court that the electronic device was analysed and found to contain 70,000 indecent images of children, of which 155 were in the most extreme category A, 363 were classed as category B, and the remaining were category C.
Each of the photos had creation dates attached to them, the court heard, pinpointing when Johnstone downloaded them, however, the prosecutor said there "is no suggestion" that he produced the images first-hand.
Calling for a criminal justice social work report "to give more insight" into Johnstone's background, Sheriff James Varney said the "alarming" case "can only be dealt with by the imposition of custody".
The sheriff added that an extended sentence - including a period of monitoring in the community upon his release from prison - will be considered.
Defence solicitor Paul Cook said he would reserve his plea in mitigation until the next calling of the case.
The Greenock Telegraph previously reported that Johnstone was found with more than 46,000 depraved images on a laptop computer and two mobile phone SIM cards in his former one-bedroom flat on Greenock's Dempster Street, having amassed the material over eight months between July 2019 and March 2020.
He told officers at the time: "I've messed my life up."
He was handed an 18-month prison term and added to the sex offenders registers for 10 years - and committed the latest offences over the period from August 2022 to October last year.
Johnstone, who is currently remanded in custody, will return to court for sentencing on May 3.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here