Police officer who helped Claudia Lawrence’s father charged over indecent images of children

A former North Yorkshire Police officer who helped Claudia Lawrence's father after the 2009 disappearance has been charged with possessing indecent images of children and with voyeurism. Paul Beckwith, 53, of York, who served as a family liaison officer during the Claudia Lawrence case, was suspended after his arrest in November 2024 and left the force in April 2025. On September 24, 2025, Beckwith was charged with three counts of possessing indecent images of children and five counts of voyeurism. He is due to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on October 29, 2025 at 2 p.m. North Yorkshire Police said the allegations are not connected to his policing duties.

Claudia Lawrence disappeared in March 2009 while returning home from her job at the University of York. The case became one of the largest missing-person investigations conducted by the force, with nine arrests over the years; in 2015 a file on four men was forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service, though no one was charged. Peter Lawrence, Claudia's father, died in February 2021 at age 74 after decades of campaigning for information. He helped push Missing People campaigns and contributed to the 2017 Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act, known informally as Claudia's Law, which allows a family member to oversee a missing relative's financial and property affairs after 90 days.

Beckwith had previously been photographed alongside Peter Lawrence during a 2009 police appeal for information about Claudia Lawrence's disappearance. Before leaving the force, he served as the Chief Pilot of North Yorkshire Police’s Drone Unit and led a Remembrance Day parade through York in 2023. The police noted that the charges against Beckwith are unrelated to his duties as an officer and concern incidents outside his policing career. The court appearance remains scheduled for York Magistrates' Court on October 29, 2025.