A convicted sex offender jailed for being involved in a large paedophile ring is to have his case sent back to the Appeal Court.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) said Craig Boath may have suffered a miscarriage of justice.

Eight men were convicted of a string of child porn charges after a high-profile trial in Edinburgh five years ago.

They were said at the time to have been members of Scotland's biggest paedophile ring.

One of them, former insurance worker Boath, from Dundee, was jailed for more than nine years in June 2009 after a jury found him guilty of conspiring with others to sexually abuse a child.

Boath, now aged 29, was also convicted of five child porn charges, including possessing and distributing indecent photographs of children.

The SCCRC today confirmed it has decided to refer Boath's case back to High Court judges.

While a statement of their reasons for doing so has been sent to the court and prosecutors, it has not been made public.

Nevertheless, the Commission said its decision followed a 2011 appeal ruling in the case of another co-accused, Neil Strachan, now 46.

A statement issued by the SCCRC said: "The Commission has decided to refer the case to the High Court because it considers that, in light of the decision in Strachan v HMA, the libel in one of the charges against the applicant should have been restricted to one between him and one other of his co-accused.

"In these circumstances the jury returned a verdict in respect of the applicant in respect of the conspiracy charge which was not as restricted as the evidence against him suggested, and in these circumstances, this may have led to a miscarriage of justice."