Met police officers accused of being in paedophile ring with top cop, found dead with 'secret room of child abuse pics'
9 March 2023, 13:16
Two retired Metropolitan Police officers have appeared in court accused of being in a paedophile ring with a senior colleague who was later found dead.
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Jack Addis, 63, from Perthshire in Scotland, and Jeremy Laxton, 62, from Grantham in Lincolnshire, have both been charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children between January 2018 and July 2021.
They appeared in court after their co-accused Chief Inspector Richard Watkinson was found dead at home on January 12 - the day of his own court hearing on child sex offence charges.
Laxton and Addis were arrested after a Met investigation into Watkinson, the neighbourhood policing chief for the west area command unit of London.
Laxton, who was first detained in September 2021, is also charged with three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, one count of possession of a prohibited image, one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image, one count of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence and one count of possessing a controlled class B drug.
Addis was arrested in November 2021. Both officers left the Met over ten years ago.
Prosecutor Edward Franklin said: "Police found indecent images of children on a number of devices.
"The Metropolitan police investigation found a great number of category A images, still and moving, which could be best described at the high end of category A.
"Officers found a hard drive, and that is the centre of conspiracy charge where all three defendants were bringing in material to be shared on to it."
Watkinson, who was found dead at home in Princes Risborough, was accused of having a stash of boys' underwear and child pornography in a secret room.
Officers found the room in a July 2021 raid after a lengthy investigation. The abuse images were Category A and B, meaning the abuse captured was of the worst levels.
Watkinson, who had potential access to schools, reportedly had a secret room in his Buckinghamshire home, hidden behind a trap door, where he kept the pants, sex toys and horrific images of child abuse.
Watkinson's arrest was a shock for the Met, given the severity of his alleged offences, and his seniority and popularity within the force.
A source said that Watkinson may have taken his own life "because of all the pressure he was under".
They added: "He was arrested some time ago and when everyone found out it was a huge shock."
Earlier Commander Jon Savell, from the Met's directorate of professional standards, 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.’
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