A former royal protection officer who “pestered” a revenge tape victim and kept an intimate content of her on his work phone has been jailed.
Ex-Met and West Mercia Police constable Mark Cranfield sent social media messages, including one discussing his sex life, and a friend request to the highly vulnerable woman, minutes after she left the police station.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court were told Cranfield made his attraction to the woman obvious when she made a complaint and provided evidence to police in 2018, telling her: “I’m glad I got to see the pictures.”
The prosecution said he had been "titilated" by the content which he downloaded.
Cranfield, who was based at Ludlow police station in Shropshire, was convicted of two counts of misconduct in a public office and an offence of accessing computer records, including the woman’s phone number, without authorisation.
The charges alleged that he had inappropriate contact with the victim, sent her messages about his marital sex life, and forwarded intimate video and images to a WhatsApp account which has yet to be traced.
During a sentencing hearing today Cranfield was told he'd be locked up for for eight months.
The 52-year-old claimed 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, also 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 panic because his wife wrongly believed he was having an affair.
Cranfield said he had never had an online conversation with the complainant about his sex life with his wife “at any length” but conceded that he had discussed his marital sex life being “ruined."
He told the jury. “It was just a stupid comment. It was light-hearted banter.”
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.
Two photographs of the complainant were found on the phone, with video of the woman stripping and engaging in a sexual act.
Other images of the woman wearing clothing had been deleted, the court heard.
The prosecution claimed Cranfield "took an improper sexual interest" in the victim.
“The defendant, plainly acting as a police officer, started to ask very intimate questions about what she was doing and wanted her to share with him graphic details.”
The prosecutor said the complainant signed a statement and “by the time she got home about 15 minutes later” Cranfield had sent her a friend request, which she declined.
The officer then sent further messages “pestering” the woman, asking how she was and saying his sex life with his wife “had gone out of the window”.
The woman then retracted her complaint relating to the revenge content because “she just didn’t want to deal with this defendant any more."
Cranfield’s wife found out in 2019 that he had been messaging the woman and he “begged” the complainant to tell his spouse that “nothing had happened”.
Cranfield also deleted one of two Facebook accounts he had, to cover his tracks.
The trial heard he had forwarded the images to another phone via WhatsApp shortly after the woman retracted her complaint to police.
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.
In mitigation, 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.”
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."
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