[The Times, 26 May 2022]
POLICE OFFICER SOLD THREESOMES WITH PARTNER ON ADULT WEBSITES
A detective who worked as a prostitute when he was off duty has been found guilty of gross misconduct after failing to report his business interests to the police force employing him.
Detective Constable Nicholas Taylor and his partner Eleanor Turner advertised online to meet men for sex at their home in return for payment, a misconduct hearing was told.
Taylor, who has 19 years’ experience as a policeman, was employed by West Midlands Police when his off-duty activities were exposed in November 2020 by The Sun. The newspaper reported that he was offering threesomes at an hourly rate of £150 via an adult website.
Taylor, who worked in the criminal investigation department, told the newspaper that the clients at his property in Shropshire were aged from 21 to 70. He resigned a day before the disciplinary hearing, which he did not attend.
In a letter submitted to the hearing, Taylor, who is believed to be in his early 40s, described his activities as “part of his private life” and “an expression of his sexual identity”. He claimed that they did not constitute a business interest and did not need to be declared to the force. Taylor said the force had taken an over-cautious and “prudish” approach to his behaviour.
John Goss, the force’s barrister, said that Taylor’s activities had not been investigated as a crime because it was not a proportionate response to the “keeping or assisting in the management of a brothel”. He said that Taylor had brought the force into disrepute by selling sexual services and failing to declare a business interest. “He accepted that he and his partner had met other consenting adults and they had received payment for this,” Goss said.
“We say that the exchange of money for services is quite obviously a business interest. It goes without saying that accepting pay from members of the public in exchange for sexual services is conduct which is capable of bringing the police into disrepute.”
The hearing was told that Taylor was “already in the last-chance saloon” because he had previously received a final written warning for neglect of duties.
Harry Ireland, chairman of the misconduct panel, said: “This was a business and therefore fell into the West Midlands Police business interest policy. DC Taylor should have sought permission from the force to undertake his activities.” He said that the misconduct was “akin to a criminal offence” and “acting as a prostitute”.
Ireland added: “This is not, as DC Taylor claims, a moral judgment on his sexual preferences. We find the conduct was a breach of the standards of professional behaviour.”
He said that the misconduct was significant enough that it would have led to the officer’s dismissal had he not already resigned.
