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Shame for Crown Office & Lord Advocate as former Procurator Fiscal Stuart MacFarlane admits downloading child porn, added to sex offenders register

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crown officeSilence fromCrown Office after former prosecutor admits downloading child porn A  FORMER PROCURATOR FISCAL DEPUTE who served under ex-Lord Advocate now Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC (born McPhilomy) at Scotland’s Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is facing a possible custodial sentence after he ADMITTED downloading indecent images of children. Scottish Law Reporter earlier reported on the case in January of this year HERE

Stuart MacFarlane (45) from Glasgow was caught with at least 15,000 images of child pornography on computer equipment at his home after Police succeeded in gaining a search warrant to raid his premises and seize computer equipment.

Images seized by Police showed acts of a sexual nature against minors, and also pictures of sexual acts with animals. However, despite the severity of evidence seized, and the ex Procurator Fiscal’s admitting to downloading the material, sentence on MacFarlane was deferred at Paisley Sheriff Court although his name was placed on the sex offenders register.

The current Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, and the Crown Office have issued no statement or comment on the case and MacFarlane’s admission to downloading child porn and no details have yet been made public on how the admitted paedophile obtained the material or from whom. However, a Police source has said further action related to the case could follow.

A legal insider at COPFS has come forward this afternoon and told Scottish Law Reporter there have been other cases swept under the carpet of prosecutors, staff and former members of COPFS staff who were also found to be in possession of inappropriate images of children.

It is thought current & former COPFS staff thought to be involved in activities similar to MacFarlane have accessed such images through contact with online paedophile rings and in one worrying case, it has been revealed that evidence seized by Police in one case, was found on personal computer equipment of another prosecutor who has since stood down from his position yet has not faced criminal charges.

The now shamed ex Procurator Fiscal Stuart MacFarlane escaped prosecution for earlier charges of indecency with a prostitute while serving under Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini, the Crown Office claiming at the time“it was not in the public interest” to prosecute the former prosecutor who has now admitted to being a paedophile.

Daily Mail newspaper reports the story :

Disgraced fiscal faces prison over child porn

Daily Mail Reporter

A FORMER depute fiscal whose career was overshad­owed by reports he had sex with a prostitute is facing jail after admitting downloading indecent images of children.

Father-of-two Stuart Macfar­lane, 45, spent hours hidden away from his family in a garden hut kept for his exclusive use.

When detectives raided the property in Eaglesham, Renfrew­shire, last December, they went to the shed on which there was a plaque saying 'Dad's Den'.

They seized two laptops, one of which had an external storage device, and took them away for forensic examination.

Paisley Sheriff Court was told Macfarlane was detained and questioned after being medically examined, as it was known he had previously claimed to be suffering from post traumatic stress disor­der after Iraq War service as a Territorial Army captain.

Procurator fiscal Laura McPherson said almost 15,000 still images were found on the computer equipment. The majority were of children in erotic poses.

Others involved sexual activity between children and adults, sadism and bestiality. There were also 184 moving images showing sexual activity involving children or children and adults.

Deferring sentence for reports, Sheriff James Spy warned him: 'The court must be considering the question of custody.'

The heard that Macfarlane, whose address was given as Mount Florida, Glasgow, is cur­rently employed as a contractor in Afghanistan.

BBC News also reported on the case here :

Ex-prosecutor Stuart MacFarlane had indecent images

A former prosecutor is facing a prison term after he admitted downloading indecent images of children. Stuart MacFarlane, 45, from Glasgow, was caught with almost 15,000 images at his former family home in Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, on 28 December 2012. Sentence on MacFarlane was deferred at Paisley Sheriff Court and his name was placed on the sex offenders' register.

A case against the ex-depute procurator fiscal, after he was allegedly caught with a prostitute, was dropped in 2006.

The court heard how police, acting under a search warrant, searched MacFarlane's then family home at the end of last year. They seized two laptops and an external hard drive from an outside shed, which had a plaque outside stating "Dad's Den".

After the computer equipment had been fully analysed, it was discovered that there were almost 15,000 still images. Some showed children posing alone, others showed sexual activity between children and adults, while others featured an animal. The girls involved in the images are thought to have ranged from three to 14 years of age.

MacFarlane, who now lives in Mount Florida, Glasgow, later admitted downloading the images between March and December last yea

BBC News reported on the earlier case involving dropped charges against MacFarlane, here : Fiscal indecency charge dropped

The case against a prosecutor allegedly caught with a prostitute has been dropped because "it was not in the public interest" to proceed to trial.

Stuart MacFarlane, 37, a principal procurator fiscal depute in Glasgow, was arrested after a police function. He faced indecency and resisting arrest charges and resigned from the Crown Office earlier this month. Glasgow Sheriff Court heard the case would not proceed after "changes to his situation and medical reports".

It was alleged that Mr MacFarlane and Joanna Crane, 27, had been caught by police while she was performing a sex act on him. The offences were alleged to have taken place in Bothwell Street on 29 October.

David Spiers, procurator fiscal at Hamilton, told Glasgow Sheriff Court: "Mr MacFarlane's lawyer has advised of changes in his situation. "Considering this and specialist medical reports it would not be in the public interest to proceed further with this case."

The charge against Ms Crane was also dropped. She had pleaded not guilty to committing an offence of public indecency by engaging in a sexual act in a public place.

Mr McFarlane, who lives near Eaglesham, had not tendered a plea.


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