A convicted child groomer bought an illegal pepper spray from the internet to protect himself from locals who had discovered his criminal past, a court has been told.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that 40-year-old Kevin Innes had been verbally abused and had his home vandalised as a result of his previous conviction.
Innes admitted a string of sex offences in 2012 – including getting a 15-year-old to expose herself on a webcam.
He also coaxed girls as young as 12 into posing on webcams and followed a 14-year-old around Cooper Park in Elgin while filming her on his mobile phone.
He escaped a prison sentence for the crimes but four years later, in 2016, he was jailed for 330 days for breaching a court condition that he not possess an internet-enabled device without permission.
Innes, of Lossie Cottages, Elgin, was back in court this week having previously admitted possessing the PAVA spray on April 20 2020.
Concerned for his safety
The court heard that Innes had discharged himself from Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin whilst still receiving treatment for low blood sugar.
Hospital staff had informed police of their concern at the life-threatening condition and officers were dispatched to Innes’s home to try to find him.
They forced entry and Innes was not there but on open display was the PAVA spray – a 20ml container marked “American style NATO Super-Parilisant CS gas”.
Innes was traced and returned to hospital and charged with illegal possession of a firearm.
He told officers at the time he bought it from the internet because he feared for his own safety.
Defence solicitor David Patterson told Sheriff Sara Matheson: “His neighbours were fully aware of his convictions and in the past he had been verbally abused and his house vandalised.
“He was scared in his own home and purchased it from what looked like a reputable website.
“He is a vulnerable individual with no matters outstanding.”
Placing Innes under a year’s social work supervision, Sheriff Matheson told him: “The threshold for a prison sentence has been passed but given the background circumstances, I am satisfied this can be dealt with by a community payback order.”