Two retired Met police officers in court after 5,000 child sex abuse images found on shared device

Two retired Metropolitan Police officers have appeared in court charged with plotting to share indecent images of children after their alleged co-conspirator was found dead the day he was also due to be charged. 

Court sketch of Jack Addis (right) and Jeremy Laxton appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London (Photo: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)© Provided by The i

Jack Addis, 63, and Jeremy Laxton, 62, have been accused of sharing material with each other after more than 5,000 images were found on a shared storage device, a court heard.

Richard Watkinson, 49, who was a serving Met Chief Inspector for neighbourhoods policing at the West Area Command Unit, was found dead in Buckinghamshire on Thursday 12 January. He was due to be charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, voyeurism, and two counts of misconduct in public office.

Commander Jon Savell, who is in charge of the Met’s professional standards team, said he was facing “extremely serious and concerning charges” before his sudden death, which is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.

At a hearing on Thursday, prosecutor Edward Franklin told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that officers found a hard drive that is at “the centre of the conspiracy charge”, with all three defendants “sharing material with each other”.

An initial inquiry into Mr Laxton triggered the investigation and “indecent images of children were found on various devices”, he said.

He told the court that “a great number of category A images, still and moving” were found, including some that would be “best described at the highest end of category A”.

Mr Addis, of no fixed address but from Perthshire, Scotland, and Mr Laxton, from Lincolnshire, have been charged with conspiring to share indecent images of children between 1 January 2018 and 10 July 2021.

The charges relate to 2,516 category A [the most severe] images, 1,032 category B images and 1,701 category C images of children.

Mr Laxton also faces three charges of making indecent images of children, one of possessing a prohibited image of a child and one charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image and one of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence (misconduct in public office).

He appeared in court dressed in a charcoal suit, a pink shirt and a satin pink tie, while Mr Addis joined the hearing via a video link from Scotland.

They will appear at Southwark Crown Court on 9 March for a plea hearing.

District Judge Annabel Pilling granted Mr Laxton bail on conditions of residence at his home address, to surrender his passport and not to apply for documents to travel outside of England and Wales, that he has no contact with children apart from named family members, and to inform police of any digital devices.

An inquest has been opened into the death of Chief Inspector Watkinson, who had been suspended from duty following his arrest in July 2021.

Commander Jon Savell previously said: “Chief Inspector Watkinson was facing extremely serious and concerning charges, as the result of a painstaking and thorough police investigation.

“Before this matter came to light, we had no previous information about these allegations or to indicate the officer posed any risk to the public.

“He had not faced any other criminal or conduct matters during his Met career.

“He had been suspended from duty since his arrest.

“Two other men were also arrested during the course of the investigation and have been charged. Their matters will now progress through the courts.”