A former North Yorkshire Police officer who worked on the Claudia Lawrence case has been given a suspended jail sentence after he admitted possessing indecent images of children and secretly recording partially dressed young girls.

Paul Beckwith, 53, who earned medals and commendations during his 25-year career with North Yorkshire Police, appeared for sentence at York Crown Court today (November 19) after he admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children and five counts of voyeurism.

He admitted possessing 22 sexual images of children including 11 rated Category A – the worst kind of such material involving the sexual abuse of children.

The voyeurism offences, in which he secretly recorded females doing a private act for his own sexual gratification, occurred in York between June 2019 and October 2020.

The offences occurred while Beckwith was a serving police officer, but none happened when he was on duty, nor did they in any way relate to his work with the county police force.

Beckwith, a married father-of-two from York, was immediately suspended from his policing duties when he was arrested in November last year.

He is known for supporting the father of missing York chef Claudia Lawrence after her disappearance. He sat beside the late Peter Lawrence as he appealed for information on her disappearance five days after Claudia vanished in March 2009.

'Not my thing'

Prosecutor Beth Richardson said police swooped on Beckwith’s home at about 8am on November 17 last year after receiving intelligence about his nefarious online activities.

When officers told him that his house would be searched for evidence of illicit child images, Beckwith replied that such material was “not my thing”.

“He said he had downloaded batches of (images) but wasn’t searching for that sort of material,” said Ms Richardson.

He was arrested and pointed officers to a small room at the back of the kitchen inside which were various electronic devices, telling them that he had deleted any illicit images that he had seen.

He was quizzed by officers in custody on that same day and said he had been searching for adult pornography using file-sharing software but occasionally came across indecent images of children which he deleted.

He claimed he had chanced upon the indecent images inadvertently and when asked about his internet searches, he said he had used the search term ‘teen amateurs’ to look for sexual images involving “young adults”.

He claimed there were no deliberate searches for “pre-teens” and that he had no sexual interest in children.

Covert recording

Ms Richardson said the indecent images found on Beckwith’s computer tower and a disc drive were “created” in one instance on October 31 last year after he downloaded specialist “peer-to-peer” file-sharing software.

The files he viewed had labels including ‘Webcam paedos’ and ‘Posh school girl’. He visited websites with names such as ‘Illegal Teen’ and ‘Jail Bait Fantasies’.

Two of the illegal images found on Beckwith’s devices were of one of the girls he covertly recorded in a state of partial dress.

These photos were found on his computer tower and a memory card after being taken on his Nixon D60 camera.

There were multiple images of the five victims – a woman and four girls – who were mortified to learn of the secret recordings.

Beckwith was further arrested for these images and interviewed again in March this year when he claimed that the pictures were “not for sexual gratification”.

One of the voyeurism victims said she had been profoundly affected by Beckwith’s depravity and that the former police officer’s mind must be in a “twisted, perverted and vile place”.

She said she felt “violated and objectified” and that she had experienced “sickening emotions” including “disgust”.

She said that Beckwith must be a “vile person”.

'Disbelief' a policeman could do such a thing

Another victim expressed her “disgust and disbelief” that a policeman, whom the public is supposed to trust, could have acted in such a way to satisfy his “vile perversions”.

Another victim, who also can’t be named, said that Beckwith’s wicked acts “make me feel sick”.

Defence barrister Nicholas Johnson KC said that Beckwith became a special constable in 1992 before becoming a police officer with the North Yorkshire constabulary in 2000.

He served with distinction in community roles until his sacking in April this year following the discovery of the illicit material.

He said that character references, including one from a retired inspector, described Beckwith as an “honest and hard-working and committed to serving the community of York”.

Mr Johnson said that Beckwith’s arrest and subsequent criminal conviction had been a “devastating blow” for him and his family and that his was a “huge fall from grace”.

He said that Beckwith’s offending, despite his client’s initial denials to the contrary, demonstrated an interest in, and predilection for, teenage girls.

He added that Beckwith had since found new “ad hoc” employment to provide for his family.

'Genuine remorse'

Judge Simon Hickey said that Beckwith’s timely guilty pleas demonstrated his “genuine remorse” and an admission that he did have a sexual interest in young females.

He added, however, that Beckwith had since take steps to rehabilitate himself and his “powerful mitigation” included the considerable delay since the offences occurred and the fact that he was otherwise of “impeccable character” with a hitherto unblemished record.

The judge also noted glowing character references from family and former colleagues and that he was a bemedalled police former officer.

He said that for those reasons, he could “just” suspend the inevitable jail sentence.

Beckwith was given a 14-month prison sentence, but this was suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to complete 24 rehabilitation-activity days and a 12-day mental-health programme.

He was placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years.