Child porn shame of former SNP councillor

A FORMER councillor was found guilty yesterday of downloading child pornography and possessing cannabis.

Iain Hunter, 44, once a prominent member of Perth and Kinross Council, stored hundreds of obscene pictures of young boys on his office computer and home PC.

The former SNP councillor for Crieff South and former election agent for Roseanna Cunningham, MSP, voluntarily stood down after police mounted an internet inquiry in October 2001.

Council internet security chiefs raised the alarm after Hunter attempted to access a number of paedophile websites at their offices in Perth.

Tayside Police detectives found 815 pornographic images of children on the bachelor’s office computer and another 400 indecent images on his home PC.

Hunter, who lives with his parents in Gallowhill, Crieff, had claimed to police that the obscene images had "just popped up" while he was surfing the web.

A chef who once worked at a hotel in Crieff, he had denied making the indecent photographs between 19 November, 2001, and 11 October, 2002.

He also denied possessing cannabis at his home on 11 October, 2002, despite handing the drug to officers when they raided his house.

In defence, his solicitor-advocate, Branislav Sudjic, said his client had had no idea of the obscene contents of the websites. Sentence was deferred until 18 February.