August 2022

Police inspector jailed for child sex offences after undercover Met Police investigation

A former police inspector has been jailed after admitting online child sex offences which were revealed by an undercover investigation.

John Nichols – a former inspector for Bedfordshire Police – of Bedford pleaded guilty on 27 July at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and making an indecent photograph of a child.

On Wednesday Nichols, 51, of Bedford, was jailed for 30 months for the first charge and four months to be served concurrently for the photograph offence.

Nichols had sexually explicit and graphic conversations on chat rooms where he sought to seek out opportunities, telling one user that he liked ‘yng girls’.

Nichols also suggested to this user who said he had two daughters, that he would like to meet his daughters for sex, and for them to be wearing Hello Kitty underwear when he did.

In a separate conversation he told the user ‘the younger the less likely to tell and remember when older’. Nichols also sent pictures of his own genitalia.

An investigation also found indecent images of kids on Nichols’ devices.

Nichols will also be made subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

They were discovered following a covert online investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service.