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West Lothian University Challenge contestant wants conviction overturned

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West Lothian University Challenge contestant wants conviction overturned

A former University Challenge contestant branded a “nasty, perverted little spider” by a sheriff has urged appeal judges to overturn his conviction for preying on young girls.

Andrew Newton, 31, sent indecent messages to females as young as 12 and attempted to persuade to meet him for sex, jurors at Inverness Sheriff Court heard.




The former St Andrews University maths student had appeared on the BBC quiz show in 2012 was later found by police to have accessed indecent images online of children.

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Newton, of Broxburn, West Lothian, was given a 16 month jail term by Sheriff Ian Cruickshank last July after being convicted by jurors following a trial in the Highland capital.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Cruickshank, who also placed Newton on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years, told him that the “worldwide web” provided people a number of platforms for communication. He said these should be safe spaces for children and teenagers.

He added: “It can be a web where predatory spiders lurk, in order to reach out and trap children. That is what you are, you are a nasty, perverted little spider.”

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