The former police officer gained a celebrity status as he appeared on BBC and Channel 4 crime shows
A disgraced ex- Cambridgeshire Police officer who created a “toxic” culture and asked for a female suspect’s sex video has been jailed. Paul Street, 41, gained himself a celebrity status while working for Cambridgeshire Police, frequently featuring on BBC and Channel 4 crime shows.
However today (Wednesday, September 16), at the Old Bailey in London, Street, of Huntingdon, was sentenced to four years in prison. Street had been involved in creating a “toxic culture” while working at Cambridgeshire Police, as well as asking for inappropriate images of a suspect, the Press Association reports.
In passing his sentence today, 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.”
A trial was held at the same court in June where Street was found guilty of two charges of misconduct in public office. During the trial, prosecutor Anna Whyte KC described how Street created a “toxic culture” during his time with the police force. This led to investigations into 11 other officers.
The court heard details of how a junior officer raised concerns about Whatsapp messages, where Street messaged colleagues: “Just a shame we have snakes as we are all such good mates.”
In April 2020, Street also told his team to “bully” 17-year-old detainee Robiul Islam, encouraging officers to “hit him” and “smash his head in”. It was also revealed in autumn 2020, the former PC Josh Williams, who worked with Street, was asked to examine the phone of a female suspect.
Williams, 38, of Huntingdon, told Street the woman was “quite fit”. Street asked Williams if there were “any nudes” and Williams said there was a video of the woman committing a sexual act.
Williams later sent Street a photo from the woman’s phone which showed her in underwear. The following year, Street asked Williams if he had the video of the woman as he wanted to show it to the “lads from footy”. Williams said he doubted he still had it and there was no evidence to show it was sent.
The woman told the court today she had an “overwhelming sense of shock, violation, anger and humiliation” following the incident. Reading out her victim person statement in court, she added: “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.”
During mitigation in the trial, Jennifer Dempster KC said Street “enormously regrets his behaviour”. Ms Dempster added: “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.”
The 11 other officers who were investigated following Street and Williams’ actions had fostered. Of those, two resigned, one was dismissed for gross misconduct, one received a final warning, two received written warnings and five 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.”
Emily Barry, director of engagement for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) described Street’s behaviour as “appalling” and a “complete abuse of his position as a police officer”.
She added: “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.”
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