Ex- Wiltshire police officer had 850 indecent images of children

Robert Gabbott was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court

A retired police officer has avoided jail after he was found with more than 850 indecent images of children.

Robert Gabbott, 64, from Melksham, pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing indecent images of a child and three counts of making (collecting) indecent images of a child.

Gabbott, who served with Wiltshire Police, was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

The offences took place after he left the force.

The two charges relating to distributing images involved five images of a child in category A [the most serious] and two images in category B.

The three charges of making (collecting) indecent images of a child included 200 images in category A, 199 in category B and 457 in category C.

The offences were dated between 18 September 2021 and 14 January 2022.

During the sentencing at Swindon Crown Court on 6 January, Gabbott was told he must remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years, complete a rehabilitation course and undergo 175 hours of unpaid work.

Det Sgt Jason Walsh, from the child internet exploitation team at Wiltshire Police, said: "I want our communities to be reassured that our department work tirelessly and our focus is rooting out all forms of child abuse and offending whether this is in a position of trust or not.

"We will follow the evidence found and bring offenders to justice on every occasion - with impartiality and integrity - to ensure we are doing everything in our power to safeguard children."