Edinburgh crime: Police officer Clayton Lackenby jailed after being caught with haul of child abuse images

He has been jailed for eight months.

A police sergeant who was caught with a shocking haul of child sex abuse images has been jailed.

Clayton Lackenby was found to have downloaded more than 3000 pictures and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as two-years-old when colleagues raided his former home in the Scottish Borders. The disgraced officer collected the depraved images over a three year period and he was immediately suspended from his role with the force and resigned soon after his arrest in July last year.

Lackenby, 50, admitted possessing indecent images of children between May 2019 and July 2022 when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month. The father-of-two returned to the dock for sentencing on Wednesday, where Sheriff Daniel Kelly told him the aggravating factors included the period of time of his offending and the young age of the children involved.

Clayton Lackenby was found to have downloaded more than 3000 pictures and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children

Sheriff Kelly said: “In this case, balancing all the factors, I see no alternative to a custodial sentence.” Lawyer Iain Cahill, defending, said his client has been engaging with the sexual offenders’ charity Stop It Now and “none of the offending material is linked to him working as a police officer”.

Mr Cahill said: “Mr Lackenby acknowledges the seriousness of the offence he has pled guilty to. He has shown a significant degree of remorse. Mr Lackenby has indicated he has no sexual interest in children and no sexual interest in the material he downloaded. But he accepts the custody threshold has been met.”

Lackenby, who has since moved to Hawick, Roxburghshire, was jailed for eight months and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Sheriff Kelly also said Scottish Ministers will be contacted for consideration of Lackenby being added to the list of those deemed unsuitable for working with children and vulnerable adults in the future. Previously prosecutor Ross Price told the court Lackenby was a serving police sergeant when officers arrived at his former home in Ancrum, Scottish Borders, with a search warrant on July 14 last year.

Mr Price said Lackenby was at home with his family during the early morning raid and three pieces of computer equipment were seized following a search of the property. Mr Price said: “These were all subject to cyber crime examination and on the system unit there were 518 Category A accessible images, Category B accessible images 455 and Category C accessible images 1871.

He told the court the police officer had also downloaded 219 videos depicting child sexual abuse with 85 rated as Category A - the most depraved end of the spectrum.

The fiscal depute said the system unit “showed pictures and videos of boys and girls aged between two and 15” engaging in sexual posing and “penetrative sexual activity with adults and other children.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the outcome at court. He is no longer a serving officer.” Lackenby pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at his former home in Ancrum, Scottish Borders, between May 4, 2019 and July 14, 2022.