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Former Dundee bus driver who viewed ‘abhorrent’ child abuse images for years is spared jail

Gary Johnstone.
Gary Johnstone.

A former Dundee bus driver who spent two hours a night for five years looking at child abuse material has been spared a jail term.

Gary Johnstone, who was caught with more than 90 obscene videos and 82 indecent images of youngsters, also made internet searches for “pre-teens” and “primary 1”.

Some of the content found on hard drives belonging to the 44-year-old former National Express driver was graded at the most severe end of the scale.

But a sheriff told Johnstone that while prison was “undoubtedly the right sentence” the public interest would be best served with a non-custodial disposal.

Dundee Sheriff Court was told that when Johnstone saw police at his door he knew he had been “rumbled or captured”.

Johnstone told officers: “I know it was wrong. There is stuff there.”

Depute fiscal Sue Ruta told the court: “He stated: ‘I didn’t pay for anything. I accessed such sites every night for about two hours at a time’.”

Sheriff Richard McFarlane told Johnstone: “You were viewing this over a five-year period and would have continued to do so had the police not arrived with the warrant and these offences came to light.

“Each image will represent the serious abuse of a child.

“The abuse in these images is abhorrent.”

Johnstone, of Haldane Avenue, admitted that, between September 2 2008, and July 15 last year, at his home address, he took or permitted to be taken or made, indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children.

He also admitted that, between January 3 2012, and March 27 last year, at the same address, he had indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children with a view to them being distributed or shown by him to others.

Johnstone was placed under three years’ supervision and on a rehabilitation programme, also for three years, banning him from having contact with children under 17 or using the internet without prior permission.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for that time and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work.