Friday 19 August 2022 06:40 PM Police officer, 34, is spared jail after he was caught with thousands of child ... trends now

A police officer and father-of-one has been spared jail after he was caught with thousands of child abuse images after his pregnant wife found them on his phone when she suspected him of cheating.

The photographs, of which there were more than 2,000, were amassed by PC Thomas Woods, 34, from 2010 to 2021 and showed 'considerable pain and suffering' of children. 

Woods, from New Longton, Preston, who served with Greater Manchester Police, was caught when his pregnant wife suspected he had been cheating on her and checked his phone last December.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard that his wife, also a GMP officer, 'realised there were images of children on there' but Woods claimed the images were part of a criminal investigation.

But his wife's friend was concerned that she 'was being lied to' and after further enquiries with GMP, it was confirmed that the images were not part of an investigation.   

The 34-year-old was arrested in December, with a search of his home revealing that there were 378 category A images, the most serious type, that could be accessed and 300 that could not be accessed.