Donald Wardrop

Donald Wardrop, a 65-year-old resident of Livingston Village in West Lothian, Scotland, was sentenced at Livingston Sheriff Court for possessing a vast collection of child abuse images. Between January 2020 and November 2024, Wardrop admitted to holding indecent photographs and videos of children aged eight to 15 on his devices, including a USB stick and computer.

Forensic examinations by cybercrime experts revealed a staggering 100,100 accessible category C images, along with 15,000 inaccessible ones. Among these, prosecutors identified 15 category A videos and 54 category A still images, representing the most severe level of child abuse material. Despite the substantial volume, Wardrop had no previous convictions and expressed remorse, prompting the court to consider alternatives to imprisonment.

Sheriff Valerie Mays, during the sentencing, acknowledged the 'very substantial number of images' but noted that most were in the lowest category C. She stated: 'You had a very substantial number of images although I do accept that most of them were in the lowest category, being category C. In mitigation you have no previous convictions, you are remorseful, of generally good character and you took steps immediately after the offence to address your offending. I am just persuaded that I can deal with this by an alternative to custody.' The court received four character references from Wardrop's family and friends, including his wife of 42 years, who attended the hearing and supported him despite the nature of the offence.

• Wardrop's defence, led by Craig Scott, argued that many files were sequences of the same individuals, reducing the implied number of victims.
• Scott emphasised: 'He appreciates all the children in these images, although unknown to him, are real children and subject to very real abuse. He’s been assessed as being at low risk not only of sexual reoffending but of general offending.'
• Wardrop hoped to resume his career as a lorry driver post-sentencing.

The sentence imposed was a community payback order, comprising 30 months' supervision, a conduct requirement barring unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, and 200 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months. Wardrop was also placed on the sex offenders' register for the duration of the order. This case, reported by GB News on 12 December 2025, highlights judicial considerations of character in non-custodial outcomes for child sexual offence possession.