Alan Moir

A paedophile oil worker from St Cyrus has been sentenced to four years in prison for a series of child sex offences, including the sexual assault of a young girl and the possession and distribution of indecent images of children.

Alan Moir, 43, appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh where he was sentenced by Lady Haldane on Tuesday. Moir had earlier pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young child by penetration on two occasions between 2018 and 2019, as well as permitting the taking or making of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children between 2018 and 2023. The court heard that the case came to light following intelligence from the National Online Child Abuse Prevention (NOCAP) organisation, which identified an IP address linked to Moir's home in St Cyrus sharing child abuse material online via a Dropbox app registered to his email address, [email protected].

Police raided Moir's home in Invergarry Park on 25 November 2023. During the search, officers examined his phones and discovered images of Moir sexually assaulting a girl aged eight to nine, along with more than 80 indecent images of this first victim. Additionally, over 150 indecent pseudo-photographs were found of a second girl, believed to be aged 15 to 17 at the time. In total, the devices contained 1,663 inaccessible still images of abuse, and more than 1,400 indecent images of other young girls aged between one and 13 years.

Prosecutor William Frain-Bell KC outlined the horrific nature of the material during the trial. Defence advocate Gillan Ross KC noted that Moir, a first-time offender employed in the oil industry, has since lost his job but is motivated to seek employment upon release and address his issues in custody. 'He recognises that he may still have issues and that is something that he will address in custody. He will be accepting any offer of help given to him,' she said.

Lady Haldane, passing sentence, emphasised the significant harm caused by Moir's actions. In addition to the four-year custodial term, Moir was placed on the sex offenders register for life. The case was investigated by Police Scotland, with the raid prompted by NOCAP's cybercrime intelligence.