A former police officer is behind bars after admitting encouraging a woman to perform sex acts on her children and having ‘extreme’ pornography stashed on his computer.

Adam Leighton-Price was jailed for 12 months at Gloucester Crown Court on Monday after he admitted a string of sexual offences.

The 45-year-old, of Priory Road in Portbury, pleaded guilty to one charge of encouraging or assisting a child sex offence in addition to three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images – which depicted people performing sex acts with animals.

He has also been placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Police began investigating one of their own in November 2017 after children’s charity the NSPCC escalated a complaint about Leighton-Price’s behaviour.

Leighton-Price met a woman on dating site Plenty Of Fish, before chatting with her on social media platform Kik – and it was there he tried to lure the woman into abusing her children.

A NSPCC spokesman said: “By committing these dreadful offences, Leighton-Price has betrayed the position of trust he held in the community as a police officer, and would have been all too aware of the devastating impact that sexual abuse has on children.

“His appalling behaviour came to light when someone contacted the NSPCC helpline, and we would urge anyone concerned about a child to speak out as it could save them from serious harm.

“Trained advisors are available to discuss concerns and, if necessary, take action.”

The former police constable was sacked by Avon and Somerset Constabulary last week after being found guilty of gross misconduct.

Andy Roebuck, chairman of Avon and Somerset Police Federation said: “Leighton-Price pleaded guilty to very serious sexual offences, which as a police officer is totally unacceptable. We cannot condone the actions of this person and feel the correct decision has been made.

“The force has a remarkable work force and as a federation we pride ourselves on the exceptional work our officers do every day.

“We are proud of the professionalism and dedication of our officers, which makes the actions of Leighton-Price incredibly disappointing.”