Celebrity Police Officer Jailed for Four Years for Misconduct

A former police sergeant who gained notoriety in television crime documentaries has been sentenced to four years in prison for misconduct in public office. Paul Street, 41, was found guilty of bullying a 17-year-old detainee and requesting explicit material from a female suspect's phone.

The jury at the Old Bailey heard that Street fostered a culture of "bragging and intolerance" within his team, using a work WhatsApp chat where he referred to himself as 'daddy'. Street, a sergeant with Cambridgeshire Constabulary, led a team focused on county lines drug dealing and organized crime. He had previously appeared on the BBC's "Britain's Teenage Drug Runners" in 2017 and Channel 4's "Famous And Fighting Crime" in 2019.

During his arrest and detention for drug offenses in April 2020, Street bullied and verbally abused Robiul Islam, then 17. Separately, Street asked a colleague, PC Joshua Williams, 38, if he had any "nudes" from the phone of a female suspect, from which Williams sent Street sexually explicit material. Street was convicted of two charges of misconduct in public office related to these incidents. He was acquitted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm for striking a drug dealer with a baton and perverting the course of justice.

PC Williams admitted misconduct in public office for sharing the images and was sentenced to 16 months in jail. The female suspect had warned officers that her phone contained private material she did not want shared. Williams later erased evidence of the sharing by performing a factory reset on his phone.

The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, described the use of WhatsApp during investigations by officers as "appalling" and stated that such actions undermine public trust. He emphasized that immediate imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence.

An investigation into Street's conduct followed an audit by an anti-corruption unit in November 2021. The impact team's WhatsApp group, with 17 members, revealed communications that prosecutors described as "uncompromising" and indicative of Street creating a culture of "bragging and intolerance."

Regarding the incident with Samuel Kayode, a former Cambridge law student turned drug dealer, Street admitted to hitting Kayode with a baton in January 2020. Street had messaged colleagues, "He had a disagreement with my baton - and then my fist," and shared photos of Kayode's injuries. Street claimed self-defense, stating Kayode ran at him. He also sent an image of Kayode's injuries to his then-girlfriend, stating, "His front teeth are broken."

Street also sent a video message to a police officer regarding Robiul Islam, calling him an "absolute gobshite" and stating he wanted to "smash his face in." He also told the team they needed to "bully this pr*** relentlessly, get in his fat little head."

Eleven other officers were investigated due to the culture fostered by Street. These resulted in two resignations, one dismissal for gross misconduct, one final warning, two written warnings, and five instances of being dealt with for performance issues.

Street, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, denied the charges but was convicted by a jury. Williams, also of Huntingdon, had pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office.