GMP officer told pregnant wife his sick stack of indecent images were part of an operation to 'lure in' predators

A Greater Manchester Police officer has avoided jail, despite downloading thousands of sick child abuse images over a 10-year period. The disturbing photographs and videos were uncovered by Thomas Woods’ pregnant wife after she looked through his phone, suspecting that he was having an affair.

His wife - who was not named in court but is also a serving police officer - asked a friend for advice after discovering the images, prosecution barrister Mark Pritchard told Minshull Street Crown Court. She later told the same woman, referred to in court as Ms Spencer, that the images were being used as part of an investigation, to 'lure' predators in, following a conversation with Woods.

Ms Spencer suspected that she was being lied to and reported Woods, 34, to the police. GMP's Sexual Offences Unit denied that any such investigation was taking place and Woods was subsequently arrested.

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At the time of the offence, Woods was an active police constable in GMP's Salford district. He has been suspended from the force since his arrest and misconduct proceedings will commence "in due course", GMP confirmed.

The court heard that across Woods’ two phones and his laptop, there were 2,567 indecent images - 678 of which were in the most serious category. The images featured children aged between three and 16-years-old and had been downloaded between 2010 and 2021 - with some pre-dating Woods joining GMP.

Mr Pritchard said that one of the most serious videos showed a four-year-old girl being raped and told the court that "discernible pain and suffering by children"