A HELENSBURGH paedophile exposed when his wife of 23 years caught him looking at indecent images of children on a laptop has escaped a jail sentence.

Lesley Dunbar, 63, had almost 150 images – dozens of which were at the most extreme end of the scale including some featuring children as young as three – stored on devices throughout his Maitland Court home. When his wife at the time discovered his dark secret, she took the computer, smashed it, and threw it in the bin. She then immediately reported him to police.

Dunbar appeared in the dock at Dumbarton Sheriff Court recently after he previously pleaded guilty to having the images in his possession between February 14 and May 14, 2014. Bert Thomson, solicitor for the defence, said his client was able to complete unpaid work.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told the accused his crimes were not 'victim-free’ and said he would have considered prison time if Dunbar had a history of offending. Dunbar, of Dunoon, was sentenced to a Community Payback Order with three years’ supervision and 210 hours of unpaid work. He was ordered not to use any device capable of accessing the web unless supervised.