PC hid laptop in cat litter tray when confronted over child abuse images

The court heard he was 'stressed and withered' by the pressures of being a policeman.

A policeman hid his laptop in a cat litter tray full of excrement when detectives came to confront him over child abuse images.

Edward Attwell, 43, also reset his phone to factory settings as officers knocked at his door for 30 minutes.

The detectives, who knew he had been using internet chatrooms, did not look in the disgusting cat litter tray on their initial search.

They found the laptop when they returned and discovered evidence which proved the married officer had shared an indecent picture of a young girl.

Attwell, a serving officer with the Metropolitan Police, was given a suspended sentence by a judge at Aylesbury Crown Court after she conceded that his ‘fantasy’ lifestyle had not involved his work as a police officer.

She was told that he was ‘stressed and withered’ by the pressures of being a policeman.

Prosecutor Paul Fairley told the court Attwell was a serving police officer when a Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) team received intelligence in connection with the officer.

In a raid on his family home in High Wycombe in September 2017, detectives knocked at his door but received no answer for 30 minutes and made inquiries with neighbours, who rang his wife, the court heard.

Mr Fairley told the judge that Attwell’s wife returned to the family address and let them into the home – where officers found the defendant with his children, visibly distressed.

Judge Catherine Tulk heard he had engaged in child sex forums while using the online chatroom Kik just days before the raid, on September 7 2017, when he shared an indecent image of a young girl after one user requested a picture of Attwell’s daughter, the court heard.

However, the prosecutor stressed that the image sent was not the former officer’s own daughter but that of an unknown girl as part of Attwell’s online fantasies.

Attwell was arrested and taken into custody, and eventually confessed to the location of the laptop.

In mitigation, defence barrister Kate O’Raghallaigh told the judge he had been left in a state of severe depression following his arrest and mentally deteriorated with the case hanging over him for such a long period.

Judge Tulk was told he had attempted suicide on a number of occasions – but was accepting of his problem with obscene material and wanted to address his personal turmoil.

Ms O’Raghallaigh told how he was left ostracised following his arrest, living away from his family in temporary accommodation with no income and just a few hundred pounds to his name. However, she told the judge there was hope his relationship with his wife may yet be salvaged.

Sentencing Attwell, of Mayhew Crescent in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Judge Tulk handed down a six month sentence suspended for 18 months, with a 30-day rehabilitation requirement and 100 hours unpaid work.

He was also required to pay £100 towards the prosecution costs and a victim surcharge. The judge ordered the destruction of the phone and laptop once Attwell had received the personal items and images stored on the devices.