Soldier asked for teenage girls' pictures

A CITY-BASED soldier asked teenage girls to send him pictures of themselves in their underwear and kept more than 500 indecent images of children on his computer.

Corporal Gavin Booth, 30, based at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh with 3 Rifles, admitted possessing and distributing images of children, sending text messages to teenage girls which were both "sexual and lewd" in nature and contacting under-age girls online.

Booth pleaded guilty to four charges which happened between June 2007 and August 2009, but not guilty to making his own indecent images.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard yesterday how his wife found e-mails confirming friend requests he had sent to girls aged between 14 and 19 on Facebook.

Booth's lawyer Duncan Hughes requested a social inquiry report, and Sheriff James Scott asked for a statement from Booth's commanding officer.