Jonathan Le Tocq quits P&R amid child images case

Jonathan Le Tocq faces allegations of making more than 1,000 indecent images

Jonathan Le Tocq has resigned from Guernsey's most senior political committee, Policy and Resources (P&R), two days before the States had been due to vote on revoking his membership.

The move, announced in a letter to the States of Guernsey, comes after he was charged with making more than 1,000 indecent images of children, among other offences.

Mr Le Tocq has been remanded in custody and is next due back at the magistrate's court on 15 September.

The States will be asked to elect a new member of the Policy and Resources Committee, which confirmed Mr Le Tocq's resignation and said it hoped the focus would now be on court proceedings.

"We have this afternoon received confirmation that Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq has tendered his resignation from the Policy & Resources Committee," it said in a statement.

"Given this development, our Committee is content to lodge a motion to withdraw the policy letter we submitted last week, seeking the States' agreement to terminate his period of office on the Committee.

"While these developments are necessary for the successful delivery of our mandate, our Committee is acutely aware that political activity such as this is relatively insignificant compared to the impact of the ongoing criminal court proceedings on our community and particularly those directly affected.

"We continue to have them at the forefront of our minds and hope the focus can now rightly be on allowing the court process to continue to its conclusion."