Child porn prisoner has sentence cut by 3 months

A MAN who was jailed for possessing more than 70,000 images of children being abused has succeeded in having his prison sentence reduced.

Ross Masson, 30, was jailed for 30 months for storing 72,344 photographs of children being sexually assaulted on his computer.

He had pleaded guilty at a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh in January.

Yesterday, at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, Masson had his sentence cut to 27 months.

Judges Lady Paton and Lord Hodge agreed to reduce the sentence after hearing legal arguments from Masson’s advocate, Andrew Mason.

Mr Mason argued that Lord Bracadale had not followed sentencing guidelines when he sent Masson, a prisoner of HMP Aberdeen, to jail.

Mr Mason also argued that because Masson had pleaded guilty, Lord Bracadale should have discounted an appropriate period of time from the sentence.

Masson, originally of Fountain Grange, Aberdeen, had admitted downloading and 
possessing photos at his home between May 2005 and October 2010.