Former Coventry police officer jailed for having 500 indecent images of children

Jonathan McNeill retired just six months before officers showed up on his doorstep



A former police officer in Coventry has been jailed after admitting having indecent images of children on his phone.

Jonathan McNeill was convicted after admitting he downloaded the images and videos from the internet.

In all, police recovered 497 still and moving images from McNeill’s phone and computer devices.

The 55-year-old was arrested last year on June 18 at his home in Lavender Avenue in Coventry.

Officers searched his home and recovered computer equipment.

McNeill, who worked in Force Contact in Coventry - the first point of contact the public have with police - at the time, took early retirement from the force in December.

McNeill admitted three charges of making indecent images of children by downloading them from the internet and storing them.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court today.

Disgraced former cop breached court order after being jailed over indecent images of children

A disgraced former Coventry policeman breached a sexual harm prevention order almost as soon as he had been released from a sentence for downloading indecent images of children.

Jonathan McNeill bought a new iPad on his release from custody but failed to tell his police offender manager.

It was also discovered he had a laptop, PC tower and a Samsung Tablet, all of which he should have notified police about.

McNeill, 57, of Lavendar Avenue, Coventry, was returned to Warwick Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to four charges of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

That had been imposed in September last year at Wolverhampton Crown Court where he had been jailed for 15 months after admitting three charges of making indecent images of children.

For the latest offences he was handed a a ten-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to take part in a Maps for Change programme and to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

He avoided jail after the judge was told none of the devices had been used in an attempt to obtain illegal material.