A mobile phone belonging to Ewan Dillon was found to contain 58 indecent photographs of girls aged between five and 15.

The categories of the images ranged between A – the most serious – B and C. The files were created between October 2021 and February 2022.

He appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court on May 20, 2024, where he admitted taking or permitting to be taken, indecent images or pseudo-photographs of children.

On July 31, he was ordered to perform 270 hours of unpaid work within 12 months and placed under supervision for two years.

His name has been added to the sex offenders register for five years.

Helen Nisbet, procurator fiscal for Tayside, Central & Fife, said: “Ewan Dillon pleaded guilty to and has now been sentenced for possessing horrendous images of child abuse. These are not victimless crimes. They perpetuate the humiliation and devastation suffered by child victims of sexual abuse and are an affront to society.”

The court heard how police carried out a search at Dillon’s home in Stirling on September 29, 2022, after receiving intelligence. He told officers he had observed indecent images of children on the mobile phone but had never saved any of them.

After being arrested and cautioned, he said: “All I want to say on the record is that it’s an accident. It’s a link, something has been downloaded, or sent to me, and I’ve deleted it. The fact of the matter is that it has been on my phone at one point but I deleted it.”