Disgraced celebrity police officer jailed over suspect’s sex video
A disgraced celebrity police officer who created a “toxic” WhatsApp culture has been jailed for four years after asking for a female suspect’s sex video.
Ex-Cambridgeshire Constabulary police sergeant Paul Street, 41, engaged in “salacious gossip” with former Pc Josh Williams after he found intimate pictures and footage on the woman’s personal phone. On Wednesday, the woman told of her “overwhelming sense of shock, violation, anger and humiliation”. Street also encouraged colleagues to “bully” a teenage detainee in WhatsApp messages. Following an Old Bailey trial in June, Street, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was found guilty of two charges of misconduct in a public office. He admitted two offences of unlawful disclosure of personal data relating to confidential information and screenshots he sent to his partner in 2020. In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey, Street was jailed for four years. Williams, 38, also of Huntingdon, who had pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office, was handed 16 months in prison and waved to family in the public gallery as he was sent down. Judge Mark Lucraft KC said: “The public should expect to be able to trust police officers to act fairly in the execution of their powers to prevent, detect and solve crime – anything less does great harm to the public faith in police forces and individual police officers. “The public expects, and rightly so, the highest of standards from police officers. I am sure there will be many thousands of officers in police forces in this country and abroad utterly horrified by your actions and by the attitude you have each displayed here. It is both appalling and inexplicable.” The judge noted the “collateral impact” of Street’s offending with 67 cases he was connected with – or via the contents of his phone – being discontinued and a further 14 under review. Street found fame in television crime shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and was known for getting “impressive results” through his “robust” style. However, anti-corruption officers began investigating him and uncovered his two WhatsApp groups in 2021 after a new police officer reported him. The offences were committed while working at Cambridgeshire Constabulary leading a unit at Cambourne police station, mainly dealing with county lines drug supply and organised crime. During the trial, prosecutor Anne Whyte KC had described how Street created a “toxic culture” which led to investigations into 11 other officers. After a junior officer raised concern about WhatsApp use, Street messaged colleagues: “Just a shame we have snakes as we are all such good mates.” In April 2020, Street called on his team to “bully” 17-year-old detainee Robiul Islam, encouraging them to “please hit him” and “smash his head in”. In the autumn of 2020, Williams was tasked with examining the phone of a female suspect he told Street was “quite fit”. Street asked him if there were “any nudes”, and Williams replied there was a video of the woman committing a sexual act. Williams went on to send Street a photo from the woman’s phone depicting her in underwear. The following year, Street asked on WhatsApp if Williams still had the intimate private video because he wanted to show it to “the lads from footy”. Williams responded that he doubted he still had it and there was no evidence the video was shared. Reading her victim personal statement in court, the woman said: “The photographs and videos on my phone were deeply private and intimate. “They were never intended to be viewed or shared by anyone without my consent. Learning that people in positions of authority deliberately accessed and circulated these images has left me feeling exposed, degraded and powerless. “Something that was entirely personal to me was taken and treated as if it had no value or dignity. “Members of the public are taught to trust the police and believe that officers will act with integrity and respect for the law. “In my case these individuals entrusted to safeguard my property and uphold the law abused their position in order to invade my privacy in an extremely personal and humiliating way.” “I feel violated by these individuals who were in a position of power over me at the time. The abuse of that power has and continues to make this experience particularly difficult to come to terms with.” Mitigating, Jennifer Dempster KC said Street “enormously regrets his behaviour”. Father-of-two Street made a significant contribution to disrupting the drug trade before his 17-year career came to a “crashing end”, she said. Ms Dempster said: “He recognises he has not only let the public down, he has let the police down and he has let his family down.” For Williams, Robert Morris said: “He recognises what he did was deeply inappropriate, driven by misguided and stupid desire to engage in salacious gossip.” Eleven other officers were investigated over their conduct arising from the culture Street had fostered. Of those, two resigned, one was dismissed for gross misconduct, one received a final warning, two received written warnings, and five others were dealt with for low level performance issues. Senior specialist prosecutor Lisa Rose, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This case exposed a sustained pattern of unacceptable conduct by a police officer who abused his position of trust. “Police officers are entrusted with significant powers and are expected to uphold the highest standards at all times. “Members of the public should have confidence that any personal material obtained during an investigation will be handled lawfully and appropriately. “The actions of Paul Street and Joshua Williams represented a serious breach of that trust.” Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) director of engagement Emily Barry said: “Paul Street’s behaviour was appalling and a complete abuse of his position as a police officer. “He fostered a toxic culture in his team and instead of leading by example, he encouraged others to join in exchanging inappropriate messages – creating an environment that junior officers would find very difficult to challenge. “However, this investigation shows that officers must be courageous and call out this sort of behaviour and forces must make sure that they support and protect those that do report. The officer who reported Street should be acknowledged for standing up for what is right. “The public would also be shocked at knowing officers shared intimate photos from a woman’s phone without any policing purpose and that Street made a video threatening a child who was detained in custody.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub