A north-east pensioner downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children in a “one-man crusade” to find Madeleine McCann, a court has heard.
David Brinkman, who lives at Richmond Street in Aberdeen, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court today after admitting to distributing indecent images at an earlier hearing.
The 68-year-old pled guilty to four charges related to the possession and distribution of indecent images of children and extreme adult pornography over the course of 10 months, from April 2013 to January 2014.
In total, Brinkman, a qualified engineer, downloaded 694 indecent pictures and 88 clips – with a duration of just under five hours.
The court heard from solicitor Mike Monro, defending, who said his client had a “fixation” with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann – the three-year-old girl who was abducted from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 leading to one of the biggest manhunts in history.
This was sparked by Brinkman reading a book by her mother, Kate McCann, about her daughter’s disappearance.
Brinkman became convinced Madeleine had been abducted into a paedophile ring and he was the one to find her.
He became so convinced by his theory, the court was told, that he “trawled” through hundreds of sick images in the hope of spotting the missing girl’s eye defect, which was highlighted by investigators after the disappearance.
Brinkman believed if he exchanged the downloads for others on the internet, at some point he would “discover” her whereabouts.
Mr Monro added: “He immersed himself in looking at child pornography – looking for a needle in a haystack is an understatement.
“So far as I’m aware, he has not notified either the British or Portuguese police, or the McCann family about his investigation.”
Sheriff Graeme Napier warned Brinkman he could be jailed but deferred sentence until March 12 so a psychological report could be obtained.