PC would have been sacked for child sex offences

A former West Mercia Police officer, who admitted making indecent images of children, would have been sacked had he not resigned, an misconduct hearing has found.

Jamie Bunting, aged 27, of Westminster Close in Bromsgrove, resigned from the force and pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children in August 2024.

In November, he received a 10-month sentence suspended for two years at Shrewsbury Crown Court for a category A image, the most serious classification.

He also got six months for a category B image and four months for a category C image to run concurrently and suspended.

Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Jones said: "We will continue to rid West Mercia Police of individuals who have no place in our force and hold them to account to ensure they can never work in policing again.

"Bunting seriously breached not only the standards of professional behaviour, but he broke the law. He has rightly faced the repercussions of his actions."

Bunting was an officer based at Kidderminster Police Station and worked as a Cadet Leader for North Worcestershire Volunteer Police Cadets.

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: "Bunting seriously breached the professional standards of behaviour by discreditable conduct, by bringing the force in disrepute through his actions while off duty.

"An accelerated misconduct hearing found that he would have been dismissed from the force had he not already resigned."

The former officer has also been added to the College of Policing Barred List preventing him from ever working for a UK police service in the future.

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