Former North Yorkshire Police officer who supported Claudia Lawrence’s father charged over indecent images

A former North Yorkshire Police officer who supported Claudia Lawrence's father after the disappearance of the York chef in 2009 has been charged with three counts of possessing indecent images of children and five counts of voyeurism. Paul Beckwith, 53, from York, was a family liaison officer during Miss Lawrence's disappearance. The charges were announced on 25 September 2025, and he is due to appear at York Magistrates' Court on 29 October 2025.

Beckwith was photographed beside Peter Lawrence in 2009 during a police appeal for information about Claudia Lawrence. He was suspended from the force on 17 November 2024 after being arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. He faces three counts of possessing indecent images of children and five counts of voyeurism and is due to appear at York Magistrates' Court on 29 October 2025. The allegations are not connected to his career as a police officer.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement to the Daily Mail that the charges relate only to alleged offences and not to Beckwith's policing work. Beckwith had left the force in April 2025, after serving as chief pilot of the Drone Unit. He also led a Remembrance Day parade through York in 2023.

Claudia Lawrence, a 35-year-old chef, was last seen returning to her Heworth home from her job at the University of York in March 2009. The inquiry became one of the largest missing persons investigations in the force's history. Nine arrests were made, and in 2015 a file on four men was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, but none were charged.

Peter Lawrence, who died in February 2021, remained active in appeals for information and later became a campaigner with the Missing People charity. He received an OBE for helping to shape the 2017 Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act, known informally as Claudia's Law, which created a guardian of the affairs of a missing person and allowed someone to act in their best interests after 90 days.

Officials stressed that the current charges relate to alleged offences and do not reflect on Beckwith's policing career and service.