Police officer jailed after ‘preying’ on abuse victim
Sacked Pc sent sexual texts to woman he met while on duty
ADISGRACED policeman who ‘preyed’ on a vulnerable woman and sent her snaps of him draped in a bed sheet has been jailed.
Pc James Ankrett sent extremely inappropriate texts during his 10-day sexting spree after meeting the woman while on duty.
He handed over his personal mobile number just moments after ‘squeezing’ her leg as he comforted her during a police call-out to her home.
He then told her she was gorgeous and he wanted to kiss her during a string of sexual texts, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The 40-year-old also met her in a cafe and asked her to lie and say he was making a ‘courtesy’ call when he stopped by her home while on shift.
Ankrett, who had worked in the police force for two decades, has now been locked up for five months.
It comes after he was sacked from West Midlands Police last week for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with the woman.
Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said Ankrett was called out to the woman’s home after she dialled 999 for
help with a domestic incident.
Ankrett decided to hand over his mobile number after comforting the woman.
The prosecutor added: “Ankrett told her how attractive he thought she was, sent pictures of himself with nothing on except bed sheets, told her how he wanted to kiss her, how she was gorgeous.”
A neighbour revealed to police she had spotted Ankrett getting close to the woman when cops were called out to her home.
In a statement read to the court, they said: “I saw him touching her leg. It did not seem normal behaviour for a policeman.”
The former officer, of Hallam Way, Hednesford, admitted a charge of corrupt or other improper exercise of police powers last month.
His misconduct hearing held last week heard how he began a ‘flirtatious and sexualised’ relationship with the vulnerable woman for his own sexual gratification.
The woman has since recalled feeling ‘incredibly upset’ when she asked for police assistance.
She said: “He was saying everything a police officer should say. He seemed genuinely concerned about my family. I trusted him and what he was saying.”
But she has now installed cameras around her home to make her feel safe as she feels ‘played’ by the former cop.
In a statement read to the court, she said: “I was so very vulnerable and I did not realise how vulnerable I was.
“I’m in a better place now and have come so far since then.
“I thought he was helping me but he was just preying on my vulnerabilities,” the court heard.
Ankrett began the inappropriate relationship with the victim in July 2017 and was charged two years later following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The ex-force response officer was restricted from duties and was working in a non-public facing role after the allegation was made.
Defence barrister Sharonjit Bahia said Ankrett, who had no previous convictions, is still supported by his current partner.
She added: “It’s a period of sexting for 10 days and two occasions of visiting her where there was kissing.
“He clearly dropped his professional guard when responding to this complainant and he accepts that.
“But it is completely out of character for the type of officer he was during the course of his policing career.”
West Midlands Police chief constable Sir David Thompson said: “This behaviour is a matter of deep public concern at this time.
“The issue of violence against women and girls requires the police to act as champions for the fair treatment of women.
“Public trust is undermined when officers behave as this officer has.
“Officers like this have no place in West Midlands Police.”