Police porn suspects remanded in custody

The detective who comforted the parents of murdered schoolgirl Jessica Chapman spent last night in jail after being remanded in custody charged with offences relating to internet child pornography.

Yesterday's hearing followed the arrest last week of Detective Constable Brian Stevens, 41, a family liaison officer during the investigation into the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire.

DC Stevens had read out a poem on behalf of the Chapmans during the televised service at Ely Cathedral following the discovery of the girls' bodies.

The vicar of Soham, Tim Alban Jones, said the court appearance yesterday of DC Stevens and another officer involved in the Soham investigation had shocked the community. "It's just another twist in the tail," he said. "DC Stevens got on well with the families, and they got on with him. It's just so unfortunate."

Police Constable Antony Goodridge, 34, who also worked on the Soham investigation, appeared alongside DC Stevens in the dock at Bury St Edmunds magistrates court, yesterday. The pair are charged with making, possessing and incitement to distribute indecent pseudo- photographs of children.

They were remanded in custody until tomorrow, when a full bail hearing will take place at Ipswich or Bury St Edmunds crown court.

DC Stevens, from March, Cambridgeshire, had a high media profile during the Soham investigation. He regularly briefed journalists about how the family had been coping with their daughter's murder and read a poem during the Ely Cathedral service.

Last Tuesday, he attended the court hearing of Ian Huntley, the former school caretaker who has been charged with murdering the girls.

The policemen arrived at court yesterday handcuffed to security officers and with blue blankets over their heads. Throughout yesterday's two-hour hearing DC Stevens, looked straight ahead, while PC Goodridge hung his head, occasionally crying and wiping his eyes with a tissue.

DC Stevens, who is newly married to his second wife, has a grown-up son and 15-year-old daughter. PC Goodridge, from Ely, is married with two children, aged six years and nine months.

Police have stressed that the allegations are not linked to the Soham murder investigation, but are part of a world-wide inquiry into child pornography. This is being led by the FBI in the United States and has so far revealed 7,000 suspects, hundreds of whom live in Britain.