Liam Roberts

In June 2017, Police Scotland officers raided the home of Liam Roberts, a 35-year-old constable in Edinburgh, discovering a vast collection of child pornography on his computer. Roberts had hoarded several hundred depraved images over more than five years, including explicit depictions of children being sexually abused. The court learned that he had also been swapping these sordid photos with other paedophiles online, exacerbating the distribution of such material.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told in 2017 that Roberts, described by shocked colleagues as a “popular” and “good” officer, had resigned from the force prior to his sentencing. Despite his heroic past—having saved a young hockey player’s life in 2013 using CPR skills when her heart stopped—Roberts's secret life came to light, devastating those who knew him. The raid was part of broader efforts by Police Scotland to root out internal threats.

Sheriff Alistair Noble spared Roberts immediate custody, opting instead for a non-custodial sentence after he admitted to the charges. Placed on the sex offenders’ register, Roberts's case was highlighted in a Daily Record article on 27 May 2019 as an example of perverts within the ranks who were once celebrated as heroes, prompting calls for greater vigilance in vetting and monitoring police personnel.