THE Independent Police Complaints Commission has praised the “remarkable” detection work which led to a Gwent Police detective being found guilty of exchanging indecent images of children over the internet.

The IPCC said it welcomed the conviction of Michael Roger Owen Thomas, 40, formerly of Newport, who was found guilty on Friday of 11 counts of making indecent images of children, ten counts of distributing indecent images, and one count of possessing an indecent image of a child.

During a two-week trial at Cardiff Crown Court, the jury heard Thomas exchanged images over internet chat service Google Hello, sending a total of 33 indecent images of children, and receiving 456.

IPCC deputy chair Len Jackson described how Thomas was caught after an operation in the United States found someone distributing indecent images from a computer in the West Midlands.

When this house was raided, West Midlands Police discovered someone in Gwent had also been using the same website, leading to the discovery that Thomas was also involved.

Mr Jackson said the investigation, which involved police forces in England and Wales as well as the FBI, had been “a remarkable piece of detection work”, relying on forensic computer experts and “painstaking” back ground examination.

Mr Jackson said: "The investigation examined in minute detail Thomas's working patterns over a considerable period of time to find proof that it was him accessing and distributing these vile indecent images of children when he was not at work.”

He added that the forensic computing work was crucial to proving it was Thomas who was exchanging the indecent images, after he had used software to wipe his computer clean.

Mr Jackson said: "Police officers are not above the law and the excellent investigation that Gwent Police carried out under IPCC management shows that rogue officers will be brought to account for their actions."