Ex-RUC inspector admits 15 counts of making indecent images of a child

A defence barrister told Dungannon Crown Court he had received a report from the Public Prosecution Service on the offences, and as result requested that the charges were put to Lindsay again.

Lindsay (63), from Killyman Road, Dungannon, appeared via video-link from his solicitor’s office. He admitted 15 counts of making indecent images of a child and five of possessing prohibited images of a child, pleading guilty to each count in turn.

Judge Brian Sherrard QC ordered pre-sentence reports to be prepared, with sentencing expected to take place next month.

He also ordered Lindsay to sign the sex offenders register - the duration of which will be decided at his sentencing. Lindsay was remanded on continuing bail of £500.

Three years ago, Lindsay was jailed for trying to lure a child into woods at Castlewellan Forest Park. The offence occurred in July 2018.

The victim, who was on a camping holiday with her family, was walking with her four-year-old sibling and became aware that Lindsay was following them.

Although unknown to her, he engaged in conversion, asking her age. After informing him that she was eight, he said: “You’re too young.”

Lindsay asked if a priest came to her school, but she didn’t reply. He then asked the girl if she would like to take off her underwear. She refused. Lindsay persisted in asking if she wanted to come into the woods and he would take off his underwear and show her his genitals.

The child hurried her sibling away, reporting what occurred to her mother, who raised the alarm. Meanwhile, Lindsay cycled into the woods.

A park ranger was alerted, discovering a white van on the site. This was registered to Lindsay who was arrested at his home that night, but he claimed “not to have left the house all day”.

He then said he had taken his mother to Banbridge for lunch, but she denied being with him. When this was put to Lindsay, he said his mother had “memory problems”.

The court heard as a result of arrest for these matters, Lindsay, who had been released from prison for similar offending in 2016, was recalled to serve the remainder of his sentence. An application for parole was refused.

Defence counsel conceded there are very relevant convictions on record. Lindsay joined the RUC in 1988, quickly moving up the ranks, becoming an inspector in 1993. But shortly after attaining this rank, he was arrested for his first sexualised offending. He was jailed, and on release a similar incident occurred in 1996, for which he was also jailed.

There was further offending in 2012, with Lindsay serving another prison sentence, and he was released in October 2016.

Defence counsel said it was difficult to know how someone of his client’s intelligence and achievement “could have crashed like this”.

The judge on that occasion remarked: “Probably something to do with offending against children.”

The defence said when pressed on his mindset at the time of the latest offending Lindsay claimed: “I was in desperation. I didn’t care anymore. I thought I’d be better off in prison.”

He was first jailed in 1994 for 16 sex offences, including gross indecency and indecent exposure, having been arrested after a high-speed chase through Belfast.

A court was told Lindsay used his position as an inspector to target vulnerable victims. He would approach schoolgirls and ask them if they needed help, before abusing them.