A FORMER Ministry of Defence Police officer who served in Barrow has been sentenced for making indecent images of children. 

Andrew Stevenson, 24, was a serving firearms stationed at Barrow's shipyard when he downloaded 165 indecent images.

A court heard after receiving intelligence Cumbria police executed a search warrant at Stevenson’s home in Ulverston in August 2021.

Officers seized an iPad and an iPhone and following forensic examination the devices were found to contain 94 of the most serious category A indecent images of children, 37 category B images and 34 category C.

Some of the images were accessed via a cloud storage facility that the defendant was using.

Formerly a man of good character, Stevenson gave police a no comment interview but admitted all three offences when he appeared in court.

Those allegations were as follows: 

* That on or before June 3, 2021, at Ulverston, he downloaded 94 Category A indecent photographs of children. Category A is the most serious category for this type of offence.

* That over the same period of time, also at Ulverston, he downloaded 37 Category B indecent images of children.

* And that over the same period, and also at Ulverston, he downloaded 34 Category C indecent photographs of children.

Stevenson was sentenced today to a three year community order at Carlisle Crown Court.

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and told he must attend a Making Changes Programme.

The defendant's IT equipment was also confiscated.

Stevenson was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and must sign the Sex Offenders register for five years.

Following the sentencing, Katie Beattie for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “As a serving police officer, Andrew Stevenson was expected to uphold the law and protect people.

“By downloading these images he was feeding directly into an industry which sexually exploits children.

“The CPS and the police will continue to work together to robustly prosecute anyone who commits such abhorrent offences, particularly those in positions of trust in our society.”

A previous court hearing was told Stevenson was now living with family in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock.

Armed police officers began patrolling around Barrow's shipyard in 2019.

The MDP's Nuclear Tactical Firearms Unit provides a dedicated specialist firearms capability.

To join the unit, officers must pass a rigorous selection process to achieve their high level tactical dynamic search qualification.