A SENIOR Solihull police officer accused of downloading child pornography from the internet walked free from court this week after the prosecution dropped the case against him.
But he remains suspended from duty and his case could be reviewed.
Inspector Simon Westwood had denied 14 charges of making indecent images of children under the age of 16 between April and December 2002.
Paul Addison, for the Crown Prosecution Service, told Birmingham Crown Court on Monday that the prosecution had been "forced" to instruct a second expert in the case.
He said as a result of advice given by that expert the prosecution had sought a second opinion and, after counsel had thoroughly reviewed the case, it had been decided there was no realistic prospect of securing a conviction.
Inspector Westwood, head of the road policing unit at Solihull, has been suspended from duty since he was charged last April.
It was alleged images were down-loaded from the internet on his personal home computer.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police told the Solihull Times yesterday: "We are aware no evidence was offered at court."
He confirmed that Insp Westwood remained suspended: "His suspension will now be reviewed and a decision made in due course.
"We will now be considering whether there are internal misconduct issues."
Paul Tonks, who chairs the West Midlands Police Federation, welcomed the CPS decision and said he hoped Insp Westwood can return to work with an untarnished character.
"This officer has always protested his innocence and the comments made by the prosecution are fairly damning to say the least.
"As in all cases such as this, it's the subjectiveness and if there were any doubts at all, this should never have gone to court."
Mr Tonks urged the police to resolve the issue as soon as possible "to bring about 12 months of worry and indecision to an end."
