Cop who kept child sex images walks free after judge | UK News

A police officer who downloaded child sex abuse images has been spared jail.

Kurt Haydon, 38, kept a number of obscene images and videos of children between the ages of nine and 12 that fell into categories C, B and the most extreme, A.

He was caught when Staffordshire Police searched a house connected to him in January 2019 and seized two devices, including a laptop.

Haydon was suspended by West Midlands Police in May 2021 and resigned after being charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

He was handed an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, by Recorder Julian Taylor, who warned him to ‘never do anything like this again’.

Prosecutor Daniel Wright told the jury that the offending had happened ‘over a relatively long period of time’ between 2011 and 2018 – but said that Haydon did not accept that he was the one who had downloaded the images.

Mr Wright said: ‘He said it couldn’t have been him but must have been someone who also had access to the devices.

‘The defendant has maintained his defence in the face of overwhelming evidence.’

Recorder Taylor said Haydon had been an ‘exemplary’ police officer with no previous convictions and commended him for turning to a new career after retraining as a carpenter but reminded him he had committed ‘very serious offences’.

He said: ‘These are real children who have been abused because of people like you accessing these ghastly images.

‘You, as a police officer, would have known this. All the more tragic for you is that you had an exemplary record in the police force.

‘You had an established career and you should have known more than anyone that what you were doing was illegal.

‘Your family have suffered because of this. You are fortunate not to be going to prison immediately.’

Haydon was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years for count one, 12 months suspended for two years for count two and four months suspended for two years for count three, to run concurrently.

He must also complete 30 days’ rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work and will be placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years, as well as being subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.

Before allowing Haydon to leave the dock, Recorder Taylor said: ‘This was not the easiest of cases, you could have easily gone to prison. I wish you well with your new career.’

Although Haydon, from Cannock in Staffordshire, resigned from West Midlands Police, he is still expected to face misconduct proceedings.

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