A Dundee NHS worker has dodged jail after he was caught with a horror stash of child abuse images.
Andrew Bayne, who worked as a healthcare assistant for NHS Tayside until his sick haul was discovered, had more than half a day’s worth of video footage of children being abused stored on his computer equipment.
Police were tipped off to his cache and went to his home on November 30 last year to search it.
Fiscal depute Saima Rasheed told Dundee Sheriff Court when they entered Bayne was “visibly shaking” and went to get changed.
Officers spotted him putting his hand in the rear pocket of his jeans then claimed he had only put his phone and wallet in there.
His trousers were then searched and they found a tablet and an SD card hidden in it – both of which contained child abuse pictures.
Miss Rasheed told the court: “A laptop and hard drive were also seized.
“All of these items contained indecent images of children, namely female children between the ages of eight and 14.
“The videos found had a total combined running time of 12 hours and 17 minutes.”
Four images and 10 videos at category A, the highest severity level, which can involve sadism and children being raped by adults, were found.
Officers also found three images and three videos at category B and 1,142 images at and three videos at category C.
Bayne, 55, of Church Street, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to taking or making indecent images of children and possessing indecent images of children between July 2013 and November 2017.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael imposed a community payback order with three years’ supervision and a requirement for Bayne to take part in a sex offenders groupwork programme.
Bayne was also placed on the sex offenders register for three years and banned from using the Internet without express permission during that time.
Sheriff Carmichael said: “You have to understand that this is a direct alternative to custody.
“If you do not comply with these requirements you will be back before me.”
