A former borough councillor and parliamentary aide who collected more than 500 indecent images of children has escaped an immediate custodial sentence after a judge handed him a suspended term at St Albans Crown Court.
Conor McGrath, 29, who served as a councillor in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, between 2023 and 2025 and worked as an aide to Labour MP Kevin Bonavia, was sentenced on Friday to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. He had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
The images, downloaded between June 2024 and March 2025, included 77 classified at the most serious Category A level, 109 at Category B, and a further 329 Category C images and videos.
McGrath first came to the attention of police when he was arrested in March last year on an unrelated matter, during which officers seized his iPhone and iPad. After being released under investigation, he told a colleague at a pub that he feared police might find “rude photographs” on his devices and consider him a paedophile. That conversation was subsequently referred to the Metropolitan Police’s Parliamentary Diplomatic Protection Command, prompting a second search of his home — one that ultimately led to the discovery of the indecent material on the same devices originally confiscated.
Claire Beards of the Crown Prosecution Service said McGrath’s conduct demonstrated “a sustained and unlawful sexual interest in children,” adding that some of the material recovered was “among the most serious and disturbing for which a person can be prosecuted.”
Sentencing McGrath, Judge Jonathan Mann KC warned him in direct terms: “If you find your way back to me for offences of this type… I will revoke that order and off to prison you will go.”
His defence counsel, David Claxton, told the court that McGrath had lost his political career, felt genuine shame at having let down those who elected him, and had begun therapy to address childhood trauma he believed had contributed to his behaviour.
MP Bonavia, for whom McGrath had worked, said he had acted immediately upon learning of the allegations, terminating McGrath’s employment and informing the relevant authorities. “There aren’t words to express the horror I felt,” he said, adding that his thoughts were with victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
The Labour Party confirmed it had suspended McGrath at the earliest opportunity and that he was no longer a member.
In addition to the suspended sentence, McGrath was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activity. He will also be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for a period of ten years.
