A BEITH man who was found with over 100 indecent images of children is awaiting his fate.

Gordon Hume's hoard of sick images included the exploitation of babies as young as one, procurator fiscal depute Alasdair Millar told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.

The 39-year-old appeared in the dock on Tuesday, October 22, where he pleaded guilty to a total of three charges.

He admitted taking or permitting indecent images - or pseudo-images - of children to be taken between December 18, 2020 and April 9, 2023, from his former home address in Beith.

From the same date until a later time of May 25, last year he admitted to having the indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children in his possession.

A final charge related to Hume distributing such images between December 4, 2022, and May 20 last year.

The Beith man, now of Montgomery Avenue, came to the attention of Police Scotland after they received information with regards to a 'Kik Messaging' account which had been uploading "child sexual abuse images" to the internet, Mr Millar told the court.

Investigations were carried out as a result, with the account later being traced to the home address of Hume.

A search warrant was then obtained for the property, before being carried out by police in May of last year.

When officers attended, the 39-year-old was found alone within. The warrant was then explained to him before a search of his home was conducted.

Police retrieved a number of items during this, including an iPhone belonging to him which was seized and found to contain child exploitation and abuse images.

As result Hume was taken to Saltcoats police office and arrested – speaking freely in the interview as he admitted the offence.

Further analysis of the Beith man's mobile device was then conducted, with a haul of 117 indecent images found thereon.

Of these photographs, 49 were still accessible, with 12 described as category A images, 23 as category B and 14 as category C.

A total of 68 pictures were described as inaccessible, 18 of which were category A, 35 classified as category B and 15 as category C.

A further 16 videos were found on the device, 15 of which were accessible - with 10 described as being category A, four as category B and one as category C. One video was inaccessible and classified as category C.

Category A images or videos involve penetrative sexual activity, category B includes non-penetrative sexual activity and category C involves erotic posing.

The files located on Hume's device were described as being stored within the phone's 'hidden' folder.

Further details of some specific images were also described by the prosecution to include "a female baby of around one-year-old" and adults performing sexual acts on children "as young as six".

While analysis of the device also found that Hume had been using applications Kik, WhatsApp and Telegram to either send or receive indecent material.

Following his guilty pleas, Hume's defence solicitor called for background reports before sentence was determined.

Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart then deferred sentence to allow these to be prepared, allowing the 39-year-old bail under special conditions until he returns to court at a later date.

Hume was also added to the sex offenders register, with the length of time he spends on this to be determined at sentencing.