A Metropolitan Police chief inspector killed himself on the day he was to be charged over sexual child abuse images, an inquest has heard.
Richard Watkinson, who worked in neighbourhood policing in west London, was found dead at his home in Buckinghamshire on January 12 this year.
He had been suspended from duty following his arrest in July 2021 and was due to answer bail to be charged with conspiring with two colleagues to distribute or show indecent images of children to each other, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, voyeurism, and two counts of misconduct in public office.
At an inquest at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, Assistant Coroner Alison McCormick concluded that Watkinson’s death occurred “against the background context” of the police investigation.
The court heard that officers attended Watkinson’s home in Saunderton, Princes Risborough, on January 12 after he failed to answer bail at Aylesbury police station.
They found Watkinson hanged along with a handwritten note.Ms McCormick said she was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Watkinson intended to take his own life.
She added that both a police and toxicology report concluded that there was no evidence of third party involvement.
In July, retired officers Jack Addis and Jeremy Laxton, both 63, were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court for conspiring with Watkinson to distribute or show indecent images of children.
The two men had admitted the charge at a previous court hearing.
The images and videos had been shared “for their own sexual pleasure” via a hard drive that the men added to when they met up, the court heard.According to the charge, the three men conspired to “distribute or show indecent images of children to each other” between January 1 2018 and July 10 2021.
The images, which were found on a computer hard drive, included 2,516 in Category A - the worst kind - 1,032 in Category B and 1,701 in Category C.
