Sentencing of online sex predator postponed

The 20-year-old was due to be sentenced today after admitting 32 charges related to the sexual abuse of youngsters he targeted over the internet.

Sentencing was postponed until the end of April after the High Court in Edinburgh heard that background reports prepared for the hearing were "contradictory".

The microbiology student preyed on 19 girls and boys across the UK during his two-year campaign of abuse.

He sexually assaulted some victims and subjected others to indecent behaviour between September 2007 and July 2009.

Byrne, of Byres Road, Glasgow, also had unlawful sexual intercourse with several of his young victims.

The predator was caught as part of Operation Defender, a major UK-wide investigation to snare internet paedophiles.

The inquiry, led by Central Scotland Police, began after it was discovered that a 13-year-old girl had communicated online with a number of men, including Byrne.

Byrne pleaded guilty to a string of charges at the High Court in Glasgow last month.

After the hearing last month, Michelle Macleod, area procurator fiscal for Central Scotland, said: "Andrew Byrne has been convicted of some of the most damaging and disturbing crimes that prosecutors ever encountered."

Judge Lord Brailsford deferred sentence to April 27 at the High Court in Greenock.