A Thames Valley Police officer has been spared jail despite admitting the possession of 'extreme pornography'.
Craig Finch was told the offence was 'aggravated' by his profession at a time of concerns over 'undermining public confidence' in the police as he was handed a four-month suspended sentence at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
A former Thames Valley Police officer has been sentenced for possession of extreme pornography.
— TVP Oxford (@TVP_Oxford) September 27, 2022
Former PC, Craig Finch was sentenced today to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court.
More here ➡ https://t.co/P8qnRS9P0V pic.twitter.com/5setiGjWbD
The 38-year-old as found to be in possession of an SD card containing five videos 'which portrayed in an explicit and realistic way an act which resulted or was likely to result in serious injury to a person’s anus, breasts or genitals', court documents revealed.
The videos were 'grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character' and any 'reasonable person' would believe the person in the image was 'real', the charge added.
A former Thames Valley police officer has admitted possessing extreme pornography. 38-year-old Craig Finch will be sentenced next month - he resigned on Wednesday. The former PC was based at St Aldates police station in Oxford. #HeartNews pic.twitter.com/lCDpOMGhWs
— Thames Valley News (@HeartThamesNews) August 20, 2022
Finch, of Banbury, Oxfordshire, previously pleaded guilty to one count of possessing extreme pornography at an earlier hearing.
He sat in the dock, wearing a white shirt and tie under a dark jacket, with a blank expression as the sentence was handed down.
Sentencing, District Judge Arvind Sharma said 'extreme images are not to be equated with the same level of seriousness as children' but possessing them was 'not a victimless crime'.
District Judge Sharma said it was a 'significant aggravating factor' that Finch was a police officer at the time.
However, he said he opted for a suspended sentence 'because of your previous good character and, to a limited extent, you have lost your job because of your own doing'.
🚩🚩🚩Craig Finch🚩🚩🚩
— RhinestoneCowboy untoward-in-poundland WORIADS (@RhinestoneCow11) September 27, 2022
🚩🚩Thames Valley Police🚩🚩https://t.co/rnN0Obs1uq
In addition to a suspended sentence, Finch was also ordered to undertake 160 hours of unpaid work and pay court costs.
Danny Latham, prosecuting, told the court how police were alerted by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to a number of uploads to the social media platform Kik in April 2021.
Officers identified Finch as the suspect on November 21 the same year and arrested him outside his house three days later, the court was told.
During a search of his home, police discovered a laptop and bag containing a number of SD cards, including the one containing the five videos, the court heard.
Mr Latham told the court how, when interviewed, Finch said he had been sent the videos via WhatsApp and had blocked the sender, who he did not identify, after receiving the final one.
The court heard the videos were found among more than 400 other pieces of pornographic material and there was “a suggestion of a background problem with pornography” in a pre-sentence report.
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Finch resigned as a police officer before a misconduct hearing which concluded he would have been fired, the court heard.
The court was told he has since sought work in a warehouse.
In addition to a suspended sentence, Finch was also ordered to undertake 160 hours of unpaid work and pay court costs.
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