The former head teacher of a Fife secondary school, who was linked to Scotland's most evil paedophile ring, has been jailed for two years for child porn offences.
David Wilson was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday, after admitting possessing and downloading illegal images. His not guilty plea to a further charge of distributing the images was accepted.
The 48-year-old has been banned from working with children, listed on the sex offenders register and will be on licence for two years on his release.
Police found 2969 still images and video clips showing children involved in sex acts on the 48-year-old's laptops. About a third of them were at the most serious hard-core level.
The court heard how Wilson led a double life - running Auchmuty High School during the day but getting drunk and downloading sick images of children in his home in Paisley at night.
He was eventually snared after police found he had swapped emails with paedophile ring member John Milligan, who was sentenced to 17 years behind bars for the "prolific" distribution of child porn.
Ringleaders Neil Strachan and James Rennie were jailed for 16 and 13 years respectively, while a further 5 men will serve a total of 26 years. Police have also charged a further 60 men as part of the ongoing probe into the paedophile network.
Wilson's lawyer, Joe Barr, said his client first became hooked on kiddie porn when an innocent internet search for music by The Beach Boys produced unexpected images.
He added: "There is no doubt that thereafter he did deliberately search for that material."
Mr Barr claimed Wilson had "pressed the self destruct button" in his quest for images of abuse, ending an "illustrious" career.
Wilson had become a teacher in the early 1980s, becoming a deputy head in 1993 and being appointed head of Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes in 2006.
Two glowing reports from inspectors praised the work he was doing, tackling problems at the school.
However, the court heard that, as Wilson's career advanced, his personal life was falling apart, he was suffering from depression and he began drinking heavily.
Mr Barr said his marriage had broken up and he had become confused about his sexuality.
He resigned from his teaching post in February this year and had since made two suicide attempts.
Jailing him, judge Lord Kinclaven told him: "Those who view images of this sort contribute to the trade in child pornography.
"The courts require to mark the seriousness of such offending and protect the public. The public includes children."
Last updated: 27 November 2009, 13:49
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