Former royal protection officer jailed for ‘grave betrayal’ of sex crime victim
Former West Mercia Police Pc Mark Cranfield was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in public office at a trial that ended in December.
A former royal protection officer who “pestered” and messaged a revenge porn victim and kept an intimate video and naked images of her on his phone has been jailed for eight months.
Former Met and West Mercia Police constable Mark Cranfield sent social media messages, including one discussing his sex life, to the highly vulnerable woman, a two-week trial was told.
Jailing the married 52-year-old at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Kerry Maylin described the offences as a “grave betrayal” of the woman’s trust in the police.
Cranfield, who sent a friend request to the woman minutes after she left a police station where he had downloaded a video given to him as evidence, had an “exemplary” career until the misconduct began in 2018, the judge said.
The woman had withdrawn her complaint and cut off contact with the police because Cranfield made her feel uncomfortable, the judge said.
Judge Maylin told Cranfield, who appeared in the dock with his head bowed for much of his sentencing hearing: “She told this court that you seemed more interested in the content of the photos and the video of an intimate nature than in supporting (her) and investigating the allegations that she made.
“You were exploring whether you could have an intimate relationship with her, be that in person or online.”
The fact that the images had been forwarded by Cranfield to an unidentified phone number had had “a marked impact” on the victim, the judge said.
She continued: “Misconduct in a public office committed by police officers is always a grave betrayal of trust.
“Punishment and deterrence are important elements in cases such as this.
“You have now expressed remorse but I am afraid, doing my public duty, I cannot accede to the submission to suspend your sentence.”
Cranfield, who was based at Ludlow police station in Shropshire, was convicted in December of two counts of misconduct in public office and an offence of accessing computer records, including the woman’s phone number, without authorisation.
Jurors were told Cranfield made his attraction to the woman obvious when she made a complaint and provided evidence to police, smirking as he told her: “I’m glad I got to see the pictures.”
The court heard he then had inappropriate contact with the victim, sent her messages about his sex life, and forwarded intimate videos and images to a WhatsApp account that has yet to be traced.
The former officer was cleared of a third misconduct offence relating to the social media friend request.
Cranfield told his trial that he had no sexual interest in the woman and believed he had deleted the images and video, which were found on his work phone more than two years after the inquiry.
Cranfield, of Bromfield, near Ludlow, denied he had been “titillated” by the video, said he had contacted the woman via a social media messaging app to discuss “everyday” issues and had only sent further messages in a panic because his wife wrongly believed he was having an affair.
Prosecutor Simon Rippon told the trial that the offences came to light in April 2021, when Cranfield’s work phone was seized from his locker without warning for reasons entirely unconnected to the case.
Mr Rippon said two photographs of the complainant were found on the phone, with a video of the woman stripping and engaging in a sexual act.
Other images of the woman wearing clothing had been deleted, the court heard.
A statement read to the trial during the defence case said Cranfield, who was a constable for 27 years, spent the majority of his service with the Met on royal protection duties and had also been an armed officer with the West Mercia force.
Offering mitigation prior to sentence, defence barrister Liz Power said Cranfield was a hardworking family man who had been stacking shelves at Tesco “to add a little bit more to the family income”.
Ms Power added: “This was a man who, for whatever the reason, was clearly under some difficulties in his relationship with his wife and found solace in contacting someone else.
“As a police officer, he shouldn’t have done it, he overstepped the line.”
