Scots sex offender hoarded images for 20 years before being caught by police

A sex offender hoarded child abuse images for over 20 years before being caught by police.

Alan Reid had hundreds of indecent images of children, a mixture of pictures and video, stashed across five devices.

The 55-year-old admitted having illegal images for over 20 years - from January 1, 2000, until late 2021.

He admitted his guilt last month and returned to the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court today, Friday, December 5, 2025, to learn his fate.

But Sheriff Eoin McGinty ruled he could not sentence Reid because he had recently been made homeless.

The court heard he had been removed from his home in Linwood, Renfrewshire, when concerned neighbours protested against him living next to them.

He is now living in homeless accommodation and attempts are being made to get him a new permanent address.

And the sheriff adjourned the case further to see if Reid can get a permanent address - allowing the court to give him a home detention curfew as punishment.

The sheriff said: "I want to see I you can get an address. That will give me another option than sending you to jail.

"I'm not saying I'm not going to send you to prison for this, but it gives me another option."

The case was adjourned until next month, meaning when Reid is sentenced more than 26 years will have passed since he began committing the offences he is being sentenced for.

The court heard previously that police received intelligence he was in possession of indecent images of children and went to his then-home in Linwood, Renfrewshire.

A number of items were seized by officers and sent off to be examined by cyber crime experts.

The interrogation of Reid's devices revealed he had more than 500 indecent images spread across five different devices.

The pictures - many of which had since been deleted - were held on BlackBerry and Nokia mobile phones, two laptops, and a micro SD card.

Sheriff McGinty was told experts "identified child sex exploitation and abuse images across the five devices".

The court heard Reid was arrested and made no comment when cautioned and charged by officers.

The sheriff was also told the devices would not be returned to Reid.

At the time, Sheriff McGinty warned Reid he could be jailed over the offence.

He said: "Clearly [background] reports will be required - I need reports to establish exactly how to deal with you.

"All options will be open to the court, including custody."

He placed Reid on the sex offenders' register and continued his bail ahead of sentencing.

The sheriff was also asked to impose a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which places conditions on what convicted sex offenders are allowed to do.

He continued consideration of the Sexual Offences Prevention Order until next year.