Laptop and mobile phone sniffing dogs help Police Scotland

It was announced today that animals with special training will join the force to locate devices, including SIM cards, tablets, USB sticks and more.

This comes after paedophile and child rapist Benjamin Young was jailed earlier this month largely thanks to the efforts of a digital evidence detection dog from North Yorkshire in a Scotland-first bust.

Now, off the back of this success, pets will be trained for six to eight weeks and become an "invaluable" resource to police.

Officers will rely on Zen, Xena, Max and Pip to sniff out hardware, even if they are hidden.

At Dalmarnock Police Office, a handler demonstrated how the animals work, using their noses and freezing in position once the items are located.

Zen and his handler (Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn and Zen (Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)

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Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn said: "What we are seeing in Scotland is a massive increase, particularly in child sexual abuse and exploitation, through the sharing of images.

"We have seen a 500% increase in the last five years and a 70% increase in online fraud.

"It's important that we seize digital evidence.

"If they are in the house, the dogs will be able to sniff out these items.

"Police Scotland has used dogs for decades around explosives, firearms, drugs and cash but this is about moving with the times.

"A lot of evidence is captured on people's digital devices and being able to train the dogs to find them gives us a huge advantage."