Met chief inspector facing child abuse charges took own life

Assistant coroner Alison McCormick said she was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Ch Insp Richard Watkinson intended to take his own life

A Metropolitan Police officer killed himself the day he was due to be charged with child abuse image offences, an inquest concluded.

Ch Insp Richard Watkinson's body was found along with a handwritten note at his home in Saunderton in Buckinghamshire on 12 January.

He had failed to answer bail at Aylesbury Police Station that morning.

The inquest heard that his death occurred "against the background context" of the police investigation.

The hearing in Beaconsfield was told Mr Watkinson had worked in neighbourhood policing in Ealing in west London.

The Met had suspended him from duty after his arrest in July 2021.

The coroner's court heard he was meant to answer bail and was due to be charged with conspiring with two colleagues to distribute or show indecent images of children to each other, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, voyeurism, and two counts of misconduct in public office.

On 12 January, police officers attended his address and, after knocking, they entered the property through the front door which was closed but not locked.

Buckinghamshire assistant coroner Alison McCormick said she was satisfied Mr Watkinson intended to take his own life.

Jeremy Laxton and Jack Addis, who had worked with Ch Insp Watkinson, and were jailed for nearly six and four years respectively

The other two police officers, Jeremy Laxton and Jack Addis, were jailed earlier this year for plotting to share child sexual abuse images.

More than 2,500 images, some in the most serious category, were found by officers investigating the crimes.