West Midlands Police officer in court charged with historic child sex offences

A West Midlands Police officer has appeared in court charged with a historical sexual offence.

Student officer Pc Joseph Powell made a brief appearance at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, charged with assaulting a child under 13 by touching between 2009 and 2011 and a further charge of unauthorised access to information on a police computer.

Powell, aged 28 and from Walsall, was granted unconditional bail to appear at Warwick Crown Court on December 10.

West Midlands Police have said Powell has remained suspended since his arrest in August last year while the matter was investigated.