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A former Inverness church relief organist who was twice jailed for possessing vast amounts of indecent images and videos of children being abused or in sexual poses has admitted having similar photos displayed on a shelf in his bedroom. Iain McIntyre, of Nelson Street, Inverness but who formerly stayed in Tain's Mansfield Estate, appeared before Sheriff Sara Matheson and pleaded guilty to possessing a total of 15 printed photos on January 10 last year. • More court news • Sign up for our free newsletters Fiscal depute Emily Hood said they were found by police who had obtained a search warrant for his home and involved girls aged between 14 and 15, mostly in states of undress.
His solicitor advocate Clare Russell told Inverness Sheriff Court that given McIntyre's record of previous convictions, Sheriff Matheson could proceed to sentencing immediately. But she asked the sheriff to defer for a background report, noting that it was a low number of images involved. Sheriff Matheson allowed McIntyre's bail to continue, called for a criminal justice social work report and an assessment for a sex offenders' rehabilitation programme.
McIntyre will appear again on April 29 and he was once more placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register. He had been jailed for 18 months at Edinburgh High Court in 2011 for possessing over 170,000 still images and nearly 1000 videos which was the largest haul in the Highlands ever recovered at that time. Then in 2020, he was jailed for another 18 months at Inverness Sheriff Court for possessing 3716 stills and 80 video fragments at his Tain home.
He was removed from his duties as relief organist at Crown Church last month, having played there since in February 2024. The suspension followed concerns by parents and the Church of Scotland issued a statement saying McIntyre had never been in the church during nursery hours or alone with a child..
