Edinburgh father caught with horror child abuse images jailed and placed on sex offenders register

Philip Bampton, 44, was found to have downloaded hundreds of pictures and videos depicting young children being sexually abused by adults when police raided his home in 2023.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the revolting material included male and female children aged between six and 14-years-old.

The court heard police officers carried out a raid after receiving intelligence that child abuse material had been “uploaded” to a device at Bampton’s home at Muirhouse in Edinburgh. The officers were allowed entry to the property by the offender and his family members at around 8.30am on November 3, 2023.

A computer system unit and a mobile phone were seized and found to contain 229 images and three video files showing the sexual abuse of children.

Philip Bampton, 44, pictured outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court. | Alexander Lawrie

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The court was told 70 files were recovered that were rated by specialist police officers as Category A - the most depraved end of the spectrum.

Bampton pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at his home between December 19, 2022 and November 3, 2023 when he appeared at the city’s sheriff court last month.

He returned to the dock for sentencing on Monday, March 3, where Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss said: “You were in possession of Category A images and that is the most serious and vile kind of child sexual abuse material you had possession of.

“Every time those images are used by someone like you those children are being victimised by your actions. That means there is no other appropriate way of dealing with you other than a custodial sentence.”

Bampton was jailed for 16 months and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.