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Friday, 24 March, 2000, 14:06 GMT
Former Roller sentenced for child porn
A founding member of 70s supergroup the Bay City Rollers has been given community
service after he admitted possessing child porn.
Derek Longmuir, drummer with the Scottish group, learned he had escaped jail when he was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.
When police raided Longmuir's home they found child pornography on videos,
photographs and computer images.
The 49-year-old, from Edinburgh, claimed that the material belonged to an American friend and that he deplored the "exploitation of children". However Longmuir, who was given 300 hours community service, admitted downloading four indecent pictures from the internet onto his computer. Edinburgh nurse The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary nurse had initially been charged with child pornography and drugs charges and had appeared in court in August last year. Police seized more than 150 videos and six projector reels along with 73 floppy disks. More than 1000 images were retrieved and from that 117 contained sexual activity involving children. Longmuir's employers suspended him following the allegations. They will now reconsider his position.
Longmuir's lawyer Robbie Burnett said of his client: "I have had various
expressions of support for him and there appears to be no doubt that the
health service can ill afford to lose someone as well trained and caring
as Mr Longmuir clearly is."
He added in court: "If you send him to prison you would lose that skill and care. His life would be destroyed if he lost his job and his house. "Despite being a celebrity for many years he doesn't have the money but he has found his vocation caring for people." Sentencing him, Sheriff Isobel Poole told Longmuir: "A court can only take a very serious view where children are involved and that, after all, is the reason why legislation was passed to protect them. "Because of substantial mitigating factors placed before the court and as an alternative to a custodial sentence I have concluded that community service would be an appropriate way of dealing with this."
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