Ex-police inspector sentenced for child sex images

A former Humberside Police inspector who was caught with indecent images of children has been spared an immediate jail sentence.

Ian Walpole, 44, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children at Lincoln Magistrates' Court in May last year.

Walpole, of North Lincolnshire, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for one year and nine months at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.

He was also told to register as a sex offender for 10 years and was made the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

Walpole's crimes were revealed when a man was arrested for child sex offences in Scotland in June 2024.

The court heard WhatsApp messages to Walpole, who was a serving police officer at the time, were found on the man's phone.

Walpole was arrested in July 2024 and indecent images of children were found on two of his phones, the court heard.

Prosecutor Michael Masson said 197 photos were found across both phones, 62 in the most serious category of A, 37 in category B, and 98 in category C.

The court heard nine videos were found on one phone and 34 videos on the other, with 24 in category A and 10 in category B.

Masson argued the age of the children in the pictures, the possession of moving images and Walpole's role in the police were all aggravating features.

In mitigation, Andrea Parnham said Walpole was not aware that the Scottish offender was abusing children and believed it was a form of fantasy.

The court heard Walpole, who had served in the police for 21 years, had taken steps to address his offending by taking a course and self referring for counselling.

Parhnam said Walpole "does display remorse", had accepted he had lost his job as a police officer and had undertaken training as a HGV driver.

Passing sentence, Recorder Luke Blackburn said Walpole had a "long and impressive" career which spanned two decades.

"All of that is now lost. All of that is your fault," Blackburn said. "The fact that you were a police inspector is a matter of aggravation."

Blackburn accepted there was strong mitigation and said he was "only just" persuaded to suspend his jail term.

"There is in you a strong prospect of rehabilitation," he said.

Walpole must also complete up to 50 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours of unpaid work as part of his sentence.

Listen to highlights fromLincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch thelatest episode of Look Northor tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices