Former Bedford police officer jailed for child sex offences blacklisted from the force

A former police officer who was jailed for child sex offences would have been sacked if he hadn’t already quit.

John Nichols, 51, from Bedford, was sentenced to a total of 30 months in prison after admitting attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and making an indecent photograph of a child.

He was caught following an undercover online investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service.

A fast-track misconduct hearing was held at Bedfordshire Police HQ in front of Chief Constable Garry Forsyth yesterday (September 20), who found Nichols had breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour for integrity and discreditable conduct.

Nichols had made admissions to the hearing which amounted to gross misconduct.

Mr Forsyth said: "Offences such as these involve such a fundamental breach of the public’s trust in police officers that inevitably brings the profession into disrepute.

"The public would be both shocked and horrified by the conduct of former Insp Nichols and his conduct will undoubtedly damage the standing and reputation of policing.

"There is no place in our force for anyone who behaves in such a way, and we will continue to work with colleagues both in policing and externally to proactively root out anyone who falls short of the standards the public expect."

Nichols will also be placed onto the barred list.