Bride-to-be blasts sentence for paedophile fiancé after sick footage found

TWISTED GROOM-TO-BE LUKE WHITTAKER, WHO HID HIS VILE PAEDOPHILE OBSESSION FROM PARTNER TRACY GOW, WAS JAILED FOR THREE YEARS. SALLY HIND Deputy Chief Reporter and JANE HAMILTON 04:30, 21 May

2025 A woman who discovered the man she was going to marry was a paedophile has blasted a court for not locking him up for longer. Twisted groom-to-be Luke Whittaker, who hid his vile

paedophile obsession from his fiancee Tracy Gow, was jailed for three years on Tuesday after a sheriff said his “depravity knew little bounds”. The beast, 35, was caught with thousands of

child abuse images and videos, including graphic footage of babies being raped, after police raided the Falkirk home he shared with Tracy, just two months before their planned wedding. She

said: “This is not justice, it is an insult to victims. “He deserved at least 15 years. He’ll walk out of prison in a couple of years, but those children will live with this trauma for the

rest of their lives.” Article continues below The Daily Record revealed earlier this week how finance professional, Tracy, 45, said the scale and severity of her ex’s crimes left her

“physically sick” and how she threw him out as soon as police told her what he was arrested for. Whittaker appeared for sentencing by video link from Low Moss Prison after admitting to

downloading, possessing and sharing extreme child abuse material. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life. Tracy, who has been left with over £20,000 in debt from the

cancelled ceremony, said: “The severity and amount of the videos and photos is absolutely horrific. “To think he was downloading images of babies and children being raped made me physically

sick. “This is not about me, this is about protecting children from an evil predator. He deserves to be known everywhere for what he’s done. I’m just glad he’s off the streets, even if it’s

not for long enough.” Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that officers raided Tracy’s home at 8.13am on July 19 last year after receiving intelligence about Whittaker. Tracy, unaware of his crimes,

allowed them access. Jamie Hillend, prosecuting, said: “Police officers executed a warrant at the address where the accused was living with his fiancée. She was the only person home and

allowed officers access.” Initial checks on devices at the house showed no illegal material. But at 8.50am the same day, a second raid was carried out at Whittaker’s workplace, where his

iPhone was seized. That phone contained over 1,100 child sexual abuse and exploitation images, including 143 stills and 450 videos classified as Category A - the most serious under UK law.

Some videos featured children tied up and unable to move. In total, he had shared 42 files across five Telegram chat groups, most being Category A. Tracy said: “He wasn’t just looking, he

was distributing. Sending them to other paedophiles. “That takes it to another level entirely. I trusted him with my life and he was doing this behind my back. It’s worse than anything I

could have imagined.” Whittaker was arrested again in December while living in temporary homeless accommodation after being removed from his unit for “unrelated reasons.” When staff packed

up his room, they found 32 sheets of A4 paper, face down on his bedside table, containing printed child abuse images, some showing girls aged five to 14, including some being orally raped.

Police also seized another iPhone, which contained 1,514 additional child abuse files, including 326 Category A images and three videos lasting more than two hours, showing the rape of

babies. Sheriff Craig Harris said Whittaker had actively “furthered a horrendous cycle of evil.” He told him: “The material you had showed your depravity knows little bounds.” The case had

earlier been described as “utterly horrific” by Sheriff Maryam Labaki, who handled the initial stage in April and said it was “at the upper end of what one sees in the sheriff court.”

Despite the gravity of the offences, Whittaker received a three-year sentence, reduced from 4.5 years for his early guilty plea, and backdated to his remand. Tracty added: “He said he did it

because he was bored and drinking. That’s no excuse. Plenty of people drink and none of them look at child abuse. “What kind of man prints those images and leaves them by his bed? A

dangerous, calculating predator. And people need to remember that.” Since the arrest, Tracy has worked tirelessly to pay off the £20,000 of wedding costs after initially launching, and later

taking down, a GoFundMe page. Article continues below “This whole thing has broken me, but I’ll recover. The victims he exploited don’t get that choice. That’s who this is about, the

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