A former West Mercia Police officer has been sentenced for making indecent images.

Jamie Bunting, 27, previously pleaded guilty after he was charged with three counts of making indecent images.

The former police constable, who worked for the force which covers Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Shropshire, was given a suspended sentence at Shrewsbury Crown Court on November 7.

He was sentenced to 10 months for category A images, six months for category B, and four months for category C, to run concurrently and suspended for two years.

The charges followed an investigation by West Mercia Police’s online child sexual exploitation team and relate to non-contact offences.

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The 26-year-old resigned from the force earlier this year however was formerly based at Kidderminster Police Station and was a cadet leader for North Worcestershire Volunteer Police Cadets.

West Mercia Police works closely with the National Volunteer Police Cadet Safeguarding and Standards Hub and the force strictly adheres to policies and procedures in relation to safeguarding volunteer police cadets. We do not believe this has been compromised and will continue to offer support to our cadets and cadet leaders.

A charge of making indecent images can include downloading an image from a website, receiving an image from a social media app or opening an email containing such an image.

Despite resigning from the force, Bunting will face gross misconduct proceedings in due course.