The former director of a top Dundee media firm has been locked up after police uncovered hundreds of horrifying child abuse images on computers at his home.
Entrepreneur David Rankine, one of the driving forces behind award-winning MTC Media, was caught with photos and videos featuring boys as young as four being sexually assaulted by adults.
Police descended on Rankine’s home in Carnoustie after a tip-off about illicit downloads in early 2021.
They seized a range of devices, including four laptops and two iPhones.
Analysists found around 750 illicit files, with about a third ranked as Category A for obscenity.
Rankine, 42, resigned as a director at MTC Media two months after his arrest.
MTC Media, which counts multi-national firms among its clients, stressed he had not had an active role in the firm since 2018.
Police raid
Rankine, of Kirkton of Auchterhouse, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted possessing indecent images of children at his then-home in Henry Cotton Place, Carnoustie, between December 24, 2008, and January 21, 2021.
He was remanded in custody and warned to expect a jail sentence.
Fiscal depute McDermid told the court: “Confidential information was received by Police Scotland that indecent images of children may have been held within a property at Henry Cotton Place, Carnoustie.”
Officers armed with a search warrant arrived at the house just after 8am on January 14 last year.
“The accused answered the door and police were permitted access,” said Mr McDermid.
“A systematic search of the address was then commenced by four officers.”
Four laptops, two iPhones, six hard-drives and a tablet device were seized.
An initial examination of one of the laptops confirmed it contained obscene images of children.
Rankine was arrested just after 11am, Mr McDermid said.
Analysis of devices
The fiscal depute told the court 574 still images and 183 videos were found on some of the devices.
“The male children depicted in these pictures and videos are between four and 16 years of age,” he said.
Some of the files showed the children being sexually abused by adults and other children.
Getting his affairs in order
Sheriff Euan Duthie said: “It’s difficult to see anything other than a custodial sentence at the end of this.”
Rankine’s solicitor asked for the court to release his client on bail so he can “get his affairs in order”.
“He has a dog and he will have to find someone to take care of it.
“I appreciate that doesn’t sound like something significant to the court but it is very important to him.”
In an unusual move, Sheriff Euan Duthie paused the hearing for a few hours to let Rankine make some personal arrangements.
When the case re-called, Rankine was remanded in custody.
He will be brought back for sentencing on July 14.
A spokesman for MTC Media confirmed that Rankine has not been a “director or employee” since March 2021.
The company began in 1999 but was relaunched by former Carnoustie High School pupil Rankine – as business development director – and two others five years later.
The company now has a workforce of more than 100 people.
