Eric Joyce: Former Labour MP pleads guilty to child sex offence

Former Labour MP Eric Joyce has pleaded guilty to making an indecent photograph of a child.

Joyce, who represented Labour for Falkirk between 2000 and 2012, before becoming an Independent until resigning at the 2015 general election, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court today for a pre-trial hearing.

According to the BBC, Joyce was charged last month after being arrested in November 2018. The charge alleged that he had made an indecent photograph of a child which was found on a device and classified as a Category A image.

Judge Emma Peters said that the single 51-second movie, found on a device, "depicts a number of children".

"Some are quite young, one is said to be 12 months old," she said. "Clearly a category-A movie."

Joyce, of Worlingworth, Suffolk, was granted bail and Judge Peters instructed that a report be prepared before he is sentenced on 7 August.

A statement published on Joyce's website last month, after details of the charge emerged, said: "I will make no comment from now until all legal processes are at a close.

"At that point, I will make a full statement."

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