Former South Yorkshire Police officer admits sending 'flirtatious and sexualised' messages to vulnerable victim

Former PC Stuart Trentham, 40, who was based in Doncaster, sent increasingly flirtatious and sexualised messages to a vulnerable victim.

The victim reported the inappropriate messages to South Yorkshire Police in August 2022 after she noticed a shift in the tone of the conversation.

The messages had initially been concerned with a matter which he was investigating.

Officers in the force’s Professional Standards Department launched an investigation and arrested Trentham on August 23 2022.

He was suspended from duties on the same day.

In interview, Trentham answered no comment to all questions but investigators secured a charge after obtaining crucial evidence from his devices which showed he had sent a series of inappropriate messages to the victim between July and August 2022.

At Sheffield Crown Court, Trentham pleaded guilty to one count of wilful misconduct/ wilfully neglecting to perform his duty as a holder of a public office.

Trentham resigned from the force on December 3 2023.

An accelerated misconduct hearing into an unrelated internal investigation regarding inappropriate access of computer systems was held on December 21 2023.

The hearing found that the allegations constituted gross misconduct and the outcome of the hearing was that Trentham would have been dismissed without notice, had he not already resigned.

At the hearing Trentham was bailed until his sentencing hearing at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday January 6.

Det Supt James Axe, head of the Professional Standards Department, said the officer’s behaviour was wrong.

He said: “The public expect and deserve the very highest standards of professionalism when interacting with our officers, especially when they are the victim of a crime.

“Trentham’s behaviour was utterly unacceptable, and this case shows we will not hesitate to pursue justice against police officers who commit crimes and fail to uphold our high standards and true values.”