A Greater Manchester officer who downloaded more than 1,000 indecent images of children has been sacked and barred from the police.

Thomas Woods, who was a police officer in GMP's Salford district, has been sacked from the force after his depraved activity came to light.

Woods, of Brookdale, New Longton in Preston, was a serving officer at the time of his arrest in December 2021.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police attended the-then 33-year-old's home address and seized two phones and a laptop.

Following an extensive forensic examination, it was discovered the officer had more than 1,000 indecent images of children, many of which involved sexual acts, that he had obtained over a 10-year period.

Extreme pornographic material was also found on his devices.

The officer made no comment in his interview but went on to plead guilty to the offences in court.

Woods was then sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on July 28, 2022 to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.

He was sentenced for possessing indecent images of children, making indecent images, possessing prohibited images of children and possession of extreme pornographic images.

Woods was also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity.

He must also sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

At a misconduct hearing at GMP's headquarters yesterday (February 14), Woods was also dismissed without notice by Chief Constable Stephen Watson.

While Woods did not attend the hearing, the chief constable said Woods will also be placed on the College of Policing Barred List.

He added: "It is a very powerful principle that officers should preserve public confidence and the seriousness of the misconduct found in terms of professional behaviour means he has been dismissed without notice.

“Woods has committed very serious criminal offences.

"His acts were deliberate, unforced and unlawful, and also morally reprehensible.

"He brings the profession into disrepute and damages the confidence the public has in police officers.

"We have to maintain public confidence and this will, of course, diminish that due the level of seriousness.

“Woods’ conduct could not be further removed from what a police officer should be.

"He is a sexual offender and completely forfeited the trust of the public.

"He will stand perpetually unforgiven by officers and staff whose acts of decency will be tainted", he added.