HUDDERSFIELD POLICE CLERK IAN CARTER SENTENCED FOR STEALING SEX ABUSE FILES AND EXTREME PORNOGRAPHY

In a case that has shocked the community of Huddersfield, Ian Carter, a long-standing property clerk at Huddersfield Police Station, was sentenced to prison after a series of serious breaches of trust involving the theft and possession of highly sensitive and illegal material. Carter, who had been employed at the police headquarters for 16 years, was found guilty of stealing a disc containing footage of a rape attack, along with other evidence related to sex abuse cases, for his own gratification.

The court heard that Carter took these items from the police property store, which should have been securely destroyed after their use in investigations. Instead, he kept the disc and memory sticks, which contained explicit images and videos of victims involved in sexual offences. The disc was discovered during a police search of Carter’s residence in February, when concerns had been raised by colleagues. The search revealed the disc hidden in a sports bag stored in the attic of his home on Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Moor.

Prosecutor Michael Slater explained that the evidence on the disc was linked to a rape case in which the victim was filmed without her knowledge while unconscious from alcohol. The police had followed proper procedures to handle the evidence, including its eventual destruction, but records indicated that Carter had falsely claimed to have destroyed the disc in 2009. The investigation uncovered that Carter had also kept eight memory sticks in a bedside table in a rear bedroom, all of which had been connected to his laptop at some point. These sticks contained material from a voyeurism investigation, including images of family members taken with a spy pen camera, some of whom were under 18.

The police search further revealed a disturbing collection of indecent images and extreme pornography involving animals, which had no connection to Carter’s official duties. On his laptop’s hard drive, investigators found photographs of young girls as young as six, some clothed and others in a bath, as well as numerous images stored on ten computer discs. These discs contained a total of 711 images at the lowest level of severity, 26 at a more serious level, and 7 at the highest level, indicating extreme content.

Police also examined 70 DVDs, which contained extreme pornography involving both adults and animals. During his initial interview, Carter admitted to viewing pornography on his laptop but denied that he had brought any of the illegal material from his workplace. He later claimed that he purchased the images from a stall at Huddersfield Market.

At Leeds Crown Court, Carter, aged 50, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including two counts of theft, two counts of making indecent images, two counts of possessing indecent images, and possession of extreme pornography. The court was told that Carter had been experiencing depression and emotional stress while caring for his mother during her final years, but the judge emphasized that such circumstances did not justify his actions.

Judge Rodney Jameson QC sentenced Carter to 20 months in prison. In his remarks, the judge condemned Carter’s breach of trust, describing it as “the most terrible and disgraceful breach of trust not just to your employers but to these victims.” He emphasized that the material taken was of a highly sensitive nature, and its theft represented a grave violation of privacy and trust. The judge acknowledged Carter’s good character references and the impact a prison sentence would have on his wife, but concluded that an immediate custodial sentence was necessary to uphold justice and deter similar conduct in the future.