Former Falkirk chairman sentenced for possessing obscene videos

The former chairman of Falkirk football club has been given a community sentence after he admitted downloading obscene photos and videos, some showing the sexual abuse of children

Gary Deans, 62, resigned from the club in December 2021 citing "personal and family reasons".

Stirling Sheriff Court heard the material was found on several devices at his former home in Falkirk, and the offences were committed between February and August 2022.

Deans was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, placed on the sex offenders register for three years and must attend a sex offenders risk reduction programme.

A sheriff told Deans he would be "very lucky" to avoid jail if he breached the community order.

The court heard previously that Deans' then home in Falkirk was raided by police in February 2023.

Officers found multiple electronic devices and Deans co-operated by providing the passwords.

Forensic examination of a hard drive connected to a laptop revealed 15 images and 15 videos of extreme pornography with creation dates between February and May 2022.

Officers also found 18 still images and six videos featuring child sexual exploitation, some of them of the most serious kind and featuring both boys and girls aged between four and 10.

Prosecutor Ronnie Hay told the court that the extreme pornography included sexual activity between a man and a dog.

Solicitor Kelly Howe, defending, said Deans was a first offender and had voluntarily taken steps to address his offending by taking a course with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, set up to tackle child sex abuse.

Howe said: "What's obvious is that Mr Deans has shown a genuine degree of recognition and remorse."

Sheriff Keith O'Mahony told Deans: "The category of the indecent images of children fully passes the normal custodial threshold.

"You pled guilty not just to having indecent images of children, but also extreme images, so there's an aggravating feature to consider."

The sheriff said that Deans had shown remorse and had taken positive steps to address his offending behaviour.

He added: "You otherwise appear to have a positive character and previous exemplary conduct.

"On balance I have reached the conclusion that I can deal with this by a non-custodial disposal.

"If you breach this order, you'll be very lucky to avoid imprisonment."