SCOTLAND YARD OFFICER RUPERT WATKINS ON FULL PAY DESPITE PLEADING GUILTY TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN LONDON

In March 2016, it emerged that Pc Rupert Watkins, a Metropolitan Police officer based in London, has been on full salary since last summer despite having pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse images. Watkins, 45, was found to have downloaded over 100 images, including those classified as Category A, which depict penetrative sexual acts involving children.

Scotland Yard has not yet dismissed him, and his internal misconduct hearing, scheduled for February 29, was suspended shortly before, delaying proceedings by nearly a month. The police force explained that they are bound by Home Office guidelines, which require a misconduct hearing to be held before any disciplinary action can be taken. They noted that hearings can be convened in an officer’s absence and can be expedited if there is sufficient evidence.

Critics have accused Scotland Yard of "dragging out" the case and have called for the process to be faster. Watkins, who resides with his wife—also a Metropolitan Police officer—in Bromley, earns approximately £40,000 annually.

He states that he became depressed at work after being away from duty for nine months during an investigation into alleged homophobic comments, which he claims he was cleared of. Watkins admitted that he became addicted to adult pornography and turned to alcohol, which contributed to his viewing the images.

The investigation was partly based on intelligence from the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, which monitored his visits to suspicious websites. This information was forwarded to Scotland Yard’s Paedophile Unit.

He was arrested last July, and during his police interview, Watkins admitted to viewing 45 Category A images, 23 Category B, and 47 Category C images. He pleaded guilty in December at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to three counts of making indecent images of a child and was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in January.

Although primarily stationed in Bromley, Watkins has served across London since joining the police force in 1996. In an interview with the Standard, he said: “I got addicted to normal pornography and I was also drinking. I didn’t know what I was doing.” He further claimed that he had clicked on links to child abuse websites advertised on adult pornography sites, adding, “Until they sack me they can’t not pay me.”

He received a two-year community order with a requirement for activity-based rehabilitation, is registered as a sex offender, and was ordered to pay £560 in costs. Watkins is currently undergoing therapy.

His misconduct hearing was scheduled for February 29 but was postponed due to another case overrunning. Harry Davis, campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, commented, “When cases end up dragging on like this, it is taxpayers who end up picking up the bill.”

The Home Office stated: “We have reformed the police complaints and disciplinary systems to make them more transparent, more accountable to the public and to bring corruption and misconduct to light. We have also introduced legally qualified chairs for disciplinary hearings, which are now held in public, and we are giving the Independent Police Complaints Commission responsibility for all serious and sensitive cases.”

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that Watkins' disciplinary hearing “was arranged for the first available date after his misconduct review was completed. As it was not possible to hold the hearing... it will be held on the earliest, next available date. Sufficient notice has to be given to ensure any legal representation required by the officer, and the assistant commissioner who will chair the hearing, is available.”