November 2019

New dad caught with sick images of children on computer after police raid

A new dad was caught with hundreds of indecent images of children on his laptop.

Graeme Rippey, 32, denied downloading photos depicting abuse of youngsters, but a jury unanimously found him guilty last Wednesday after trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

He was also convicted of possessing images showing bestiality.

Lorry driver Rippey was charged after an early morning police raid at his home in Ravenscliffe Road, Motherwell, on November 23 last year.

The laptop had been given to him by his stepdad, who was called as a witness and denied all knowledge of the images.

Rippey didn’t try to blame his stepdad, claiming the images must have been downloaded by accident. His partner wept as she recalled police arriving at their home with a search warrant.

Asked her reaction to the discovery of indecent images, she told Vish Kathuria, prosecuting: “I had just given birth a few weeks before. I was quite shocked.”

Ms Findlay said she and Rippey both had the laptop password, but said he used the device more often than she did.

She too denied any knowledge of the indecent images.

The witness agreed with solicitor-advocate Ali Murray, representing Rippey, that what had happened was “horrendous, embarrassing and upsetting”.

She had never seen Rippey acting suspiciously with the laptop.

The woman admitted that she stood to lose “everything” if Rippey was convicted, but insisted she would not lie to the court to protect her partner.

After the guilty verdicts, Sheriff Alasdair MacFadyen called for background reports and ordered Rippey, now of Drumchapel, to return for sentence on December 23.