By Gordon Berry

POLICE IN Fife yesterday warned that the internet is not the “anonymous” place many people think it to be and they stressed there will be no let-up in the fight against child pornography.

The comments came following the court appearance of a young man who has become the first person in Fife to be convicted of distributing indecent images of children.

The verdict was delivered against Glen Peebles (20) as he was found guilty of four charges when his trial came to an end at Cupar Sheriff Court yesterday.

Peebles, formerly of Strathmiglo and now living in Balmalcolm, had been the subject of a lengthy case heard before Sheriff Evans and a jury.

The proceedings were punctuated by a number of complex legal debates heard outwith the presence of the jury as the admissibility of various pieces of evidence was discussed.

Peebles was found guilty by unanimous verdicts of one charge of possessing indecent or pseudo pictures of children and another of making such pictures.

He was found guilty by majority verdicts of one charge of possessing the pictures with a view to distribution and another of showing or distributing them.

All of the charges related to a period between July 3 and September 30, 2003, at a house in Strathmiglo where the accused lived at the time.

During the case the court heard evidence relating to both moving and still images found on a computer seized from the house.

When the computer was examined by a specialist Fife police team, it was found that some of the images involved very young children, some as young as four or five, engaged in sexual activity with adults and other children.

It was also found that a number of the images were available for sharing with other computer users and the jury was able to see documentary evidence of this “uploading” actually happening on a screen which would have been before Peebles at the time.

This was made possible because of a software programme found by police inside the computer and the resulting discovery of a series of screen snapshot images placed deep in the system.

After the jury delivered its verdicts, defence advocate Mark Strachan asked Sheriff Evans to defer sentence on Peebles until reports are obtained.

He pointed out the court had heard evidence of some learning problems involving Peebles.

Sheriff Evans said that, because of Peebles’ age and lack of previous convictions, he would follow this course and he ordered reports.

The sheriff also made it clear, however, that, if a period of probation was found to be suitable, this would be the ultimate sentence.

Peebles was placed on the sex offenders’ register and a plea in mitigation will be made when he returns to court for sentence.

After the case Detective Sergeant Alistair Blair, who was called as a witness at the trial, said he was satisfied with the outcome, particularly as Peebles was the first person in Fife to be convicted of distributing such images.

“This case resulted from many hours of forensic analysis by staff of the computer crime unit.

“I hope it sends a positive message to the people of Fife that we are fully committed to investigating this type of crime.

“The internet is not the anonymous place that so many users appear to think it is,” he said.