Man admits owning stash of child porn

A MAN has admitted having an enormous stash of child pornography at his home which a sheriff branded as "utterly shocking".

James McKenna, 42, had 31,139 still and moving images of young girls on his computer.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard many of the girls were over ten but some were younger.

Fiscal depute Ruth Ross-Davie said police received intelligence that an internet account held an indecent moving image of a child. The investigation led to McKenna and when his address was searched three computer hard drives were seized.

McKenna admitted making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children between 11 December, 2007, and 4 September, 2009, at an address in the city.

Sheriff Deidre MacNeill QC deferred sentence until next month on first offender McKenna, of Montgomery Street, for background reports.

He was released on bail and put on the sex offenders register.