August 2023

Ex-PC sentenced over indecent images of children

A former police officer convicted over indecent images of children has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Kurt Haydon downloaded imagery including video of children between the ages of nine and 12 that fell into categories C, B and the most extreme, A, a court heard.

It came to light after police in 2019 seized two devices, including a laptop computer, from a house linked to him.

The 38-year-old, from Cannock, was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for two years.

He had been found guilty of three charges relating to the images at an earlier hearing at Stafford Crown Court.

Haydon, a constable with West Midlands Police, was suspended in May 2021 and later resigned.

Prosecutor Daniel Wright told the court the crimes happened “over a relatively long period of time”, between 2011 and 2018.

During the trial, Haydon claimed he was not the one who downloaded the images and alleged someone else had access to his devices.

“These are real children who have been abused because of people like you accessing these ghastly images,” recorder Julian Taylor told him on delivering the sentence.

“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.”

He added: “Your family have suffered because of this. You are fortunate not to be going to prison immediately.”

In addition to his suspended sentence, Haydon must complete 30 days’ rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid work.

He 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.