Ex-Bedfordshire Police child images officer guilty of gross misconduct

John Nichols was jailed in August and was the subject of a police misconduct hearing

A former police officer who admitted making indecent images of children and arranging to meet children for sex would have been sacked if he had not resigned, a police force said.

John Nichols, 52, an inspector with Bedfordshire Police, was jailed for two-and-a-half years in August at Inner London Crown Court.

The force said a police panel ruled his actions amounted to gross misconduct.

It said he had been placed on a barred list preventing him from re-joining.

At the hearing at the force's headquarters in Kempston, the panel found Nichols, from Elstow near Bedford, breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour for integrity and discreditable conduct.

Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said: "Offences such as these involve such a fundamental breach of the public's trust in police officers that it inevitably brings the profession into disrepute.

"The public would be both shocked and horrified by the conduct of former Insp Nichols and his conduct will undoubtedly damage the standing and reputation of policing."

He said there was no place in the force "for anyone who behaves in such a way".

Nichols had previously admitted the offences which took place in January.

An investigation by the Met Police found 39 harmful images on his devices.

It also found he had sent sexually explicit and graphic conversations in online chat rooms.

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