Two retired officers with the Metropolitan Police have been charged with offences in relation to child sex abuse images following the death of a serving chief inspector who was found dead last week.
Jack Addis, 63, and Jeremy Laxton, 62, will appear at Westminster magistrates court next month. Both are understood to have left the Met a decade ago.
The Met has confirmed a “lengthy and complex” investigation had targeted Richard Watkinson, 49, who was found dead at his home in Prince’s Risborough, Buckinghamshire, on the same day 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.
Watkinson was the West Area Command Unit’s chief inspector in charge of neighbourhood policing in west London.
The Crown Prosecution Service had authorised charges against Watkinson, who had been suspended from duty since July 2021.
The Met says Addis, who was first arrested in November 2021, has been charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children.
Laxton, who was arrested in September 2021, has been charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, possession of prohibited images of a child, possession of extreme pornographic images and intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence (misconduct in public office).
‘Serious Charges and Concerning Charges’
Commander Jon Savell, 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,” he added.
Savell said: “Two other men were also arrested during the course of the investigation and have been charged, their matters will now progress through the courts.”
‘Double Down’ on Rooting Out Corruption
She said: “It is vital that the Metropolitan Police and other forces double down on their efforts to root out corrupt officers. This may mean more shocking cases come to light in the short-term.”Carrick will be sentenced next month and is likely to face a life sentence.
The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, was appointed in September to clean up the force after the Wayne Couzens affair and a string of other scandals involving police corruption.
Rowley said this week he planned to write to Braverman and Khan at the end of March in an open public letter, and said that by then he hoped the Met would have “finished reviewing all of our people, having checked their details against all the police, national intelligence data in the police national database.”
Conservative MP Tim Loughton asked him how he planned to get rid of the “bad apples.”
Rowley replied: “I don’t like the phrase bad apples. It suggests there are just a few people over there somewhere. We have allowed a few bad apples to become pockets … Corrupt behaviour … is not pervasive but it’s widespread.”
At that point, Rowley would have been aware of both the Carrick and Watkinson cases, which were not in the public domain.
