‘YOU UNDERMINED PUBLIC TRUST’

DISTRICT Judge Jonathan Taaffe said that Mark Knights had undermined public trust.

In his sentencing remarks, he said: “The fact that you were a police officer is of course relevant because the public have the right to expect police officers to uphold high standards.

“It leads me to question what on earth was your attitude to members of the public? There is a breach of trust here to the public and to your colleagues.

“I have no doubt that the victim will have been prevented from carrying out her duties to some extent because of your activities.

“You have let the people of Derbyshire down and you have let your colleagues down. People have a right to expect behaviour of a professional manner.

“You are an extremely fortunate man not to be going into immediate custody today, given the current climate regarding trust in police officers.

“The only reason you have not gone into custody today is because this is low level harassment rather than persistent harassment causing long term distress.”