Insp John Nichols was sentenced on two charges at Inner London Crown Court today

Insp John Nichols, 51, has been sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment today for two charges; arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and making an indecent photograph of a child. 

He had pleaded guilty to the offences on July 27 and was bailed until today’s sentencing. 

The allegations came to light following a covert online investigation by the Met and Nichols was removed from all duties - he then retired from Bedfordshire prior to his first hearing. 

He has now received a custodial sentence of 30 months on the first charge and four months to be served concurrently for making an indecent photograph. He also has a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Internal misconduct proceedings will now be fastracked. 

The Met investigation found 39 category C images on his devices, and the CPS has said that Nichols had sent sexually explicit and graphic conversations on chat rooms - telling one user that he liked ‘yng girls’. 

Nichols also suggested to this user who said he had two daughters, that he would like to meet his daughters for sex, and for them to be wearing Hello Kitty underwear when he did.

The CPS said he additionally sent pictures of his own genitalia. 

Assistant Chief Constable Sharn Basra said: “As a senior leader in policing, nothing could disappoint me more than the thought of an officer, whose very role is to protect the vulnerable, committing such vile offences. We know the public’s trust in policing nationally has been damaged over recent years, this appalling case only serves to impact this further. For this I can only apologise and assure all our communities that the police service is fully committed to investigating and bringing to justice those who commit crime, whoever they may be.”