Police officer sent 'suggestive' texts to woman

A former South Yorkshire Police officer has been jailed for nine months for sending inappropriate and sexualised messages to a vulnerable woman.

Stuart Trentham, 41 was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court for an offence of misconduct in a public offence.

At the beginning of his trial, Trentham pleaded guilty to the charge.

Sentencing him, the Recorder of Sheffield, Jeremy Richardson KC, said Trentham's actions had "undermined" public confidence in the police.

The court heard that in July 2022, Trentham had been assigned to investigate a case where a woman from Doncaster had complained to the police that images of a sexual and explicit nature had been shared of her online by another party.

Trentham had forwarded police emails involving details of the case, which included sexually explicit images of the complainant, to his own personal email address.

The court heard that in August 2022 South Yorkshire Police closed the case, having been unable to identify a suspect - but Trentham lied to the complainant by telling her that he was still investigating the matter.

He proceeded to send her messages from his personal mobile phone and email account that were described as "unprofessional which then became inappropriate and sexualised", according to prosecution counsel Josh Bell.

The court heard that in one message, Trentham told the woman "I do prefer a curvy woman" and "have you got a plans for this evening?" while using sexually suggestive emojis.

In another message Trentham sent a picture of himself in his police uniform with a winking emoji to the woman.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said that she "had put her faith and trust in a police officer but instead she had been taken advantage of" and that since July 2022 her life has been "ruined".

In evidence it was established that Trentham had no physical relationship with the woman, but the court heard that the complainant's existing mental health issues had been exacerbated by Trentham's actions, leading her to fall into depression and bouts of anxiety that had required medical intervention.

Counsel for the defence David James said Trentham's guilty plea was an acknowledgement of the wrong that he had done and that he publicly wanted to apologise to both the woman and his former colleagues at South Yorkshire Police.

Mr James also told the court that Trentham had begun to turn his life around, training to become a HGV driver and that factors such as the breakdown in the father of two's marriage and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) developed through his role as a police officer had contributed to his decision making.

Recorder Richardson noted that Trentham had taken positive steps in his life and recognised the presence of PTSD due to his police role.

However he went on to say that the offence "was a serious breach of trust in relation to a vulnerable victim".

"As a former police officer. prison will fall particularly hard upon you and special measures will be put in place to protect you," he said.

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