A former Labour councillor found with photos of girls aged five to ten being raped on his phone has been sentenced to 270 hours of unpaid work.

Ewan Dillon, 21, who represented Labour for Bridge of Allan and Dunblane on Stirling Council, resigned in March this year.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard that Police Scotland’s online child sexual abuse and exploitation unit received information in May 2022 – the same month Dillon was elected at the age of 19 – that a device at his home in Stirling contained indecent images of children.

Officers raided the property on September 29 of the same year and found the phone in his bedroom.

Dillon, who was present in the house with his father, admitted to police that he had viewed indecent images of children on the phone but claimed he never saved any.

An examination revealed 58 child abuse images on the handset, 15 of them of the most serious category.

Dillon, who became an independent councillor days after the raid, told police: “All I want to say on the record is that it’s an accident. It’s a link, something has been downloaded or sent to me, and I’ve deleted it.” He added, “The fact of the matter is that it’s been on my phone at one point.”

Dillon pleaded guilty to downloading child abuse images between October 18, 2021, and September 29, 2022.

Sheriff Keith O’Mahony sentenced him to 270 hours of unpaid work and placed him under social work supervision for two years. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Before quitting the Labour Party group on Stirling Council, Dillon had been vice-convener of the community planning and regeneration committee and the children and young people committee.

Helen Nisbet, procurator fiscal for Tayside, Central, and Fife, said: “Ewan Dillon pleaded guilty to and has now been sentenced for possessing horrendous images of child abuse. These are not victimless crimes. They perpetuate the humiliation and devastation suffered by child victims of sexual abuse and are an affront to society. We will always treat these crimes seriously.”