A former police sergeant has been found guilty of misconduct after encouraging colleagues to bully a teenage detainee and requesting a sex video of a female suspect within a work WhatsApp group. Paul Street, 41, committed the offenses while serving with Cambridge Constabulary, the Old Bailey heard.
Street, who had previously appeared in television documentaries about policing, led a team at Cambourne Police Station that primarily dealt with county lines drug supply and organized crime. During his time there, he urged colleagues to "bully" a teenager in custody and "smash his head in." He also asked a fellow officer to send him a sex video of a female suspect that had been discovered on her phone.
Following a trial, Street was convicted of two charges of misconduct in public office. The jury acquitted him of assaulting a drug dealer and perverting the course of justice. Judge Mark Lucraft KC remanded Street into custody pending sentencing on July 30, remarking that the public would be "shocked" by the full extent of his actions.
Street had previously admitted to two offenses of unlawful disclosure of personal data, related to information and screenshots he sent to his partner in 2020. The court heard that 12 other officers were investigated due to the "toxic" culture Street had created. Among them, PC Josh Williams pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. Additionally, two officers resigned, one was dismissed for gross misconduct, one received a final warning, two received written warnings, and five others were addressed for lower-level performance issues.
Prosecutor Anne Whyte KC stated that Street fostered a "culture of bragging and intolerance towards suspects" and exhibited a "zero-tolerance attitude to anyone on his team who disagreed with his methods and sentiments." She added that he was not merely promoting inappropriate attitudes but actively cultivating a toxic environment that junior officers would find difficult to challenge and likely to adopt.
Street gained recognition for his "robust" style and success in tackling serious crime, which led to appearances on the BBC show "Britain's Teenage Drug Runners" in 2017 and Channel 4's "Famous And Fighting Crime" in 2019. However, anti-corruption officers began an investigation in 2021 after a new police officer reported Street, uncovering his two WhatsApp groups, one with 17 colleagues and another for his "inner circle."
Evidence presented in court indicated that in April 2020, Street instructed his team to "bully" a 17-year-old detainee named Robiul Islam, encouraging them to "please hit him" and "smash his head in." Later that year, PC Josh Williams informed Street that a female suspect he deemed "quite fit" had a video on her phone. Street inquired about "nudes," and Williams confirmed the existence of a video depicting the woman in a sexual act, subsequently sending Street a photo of her in underwear. The following year, Street asked on WhatsApp if Williams still possessed the intimate video, stating he wanted to show it to "the lads from footy."
During his interview, Street claimed he sought to view the images to ensure the woman, who was released without charge, was not a victim of exploitation. However, the prosecution argued that neither Williams nor Street had any professional justification for discussing or sharing such private images.
The jury heard that Street's WhatsApp messages set a precedent for junior officers, frequently referencing the bullying of suspects. Street admitted his messages were "poor" and described the language as "gallows humour," stating it was "part of the culture at the time" and that he was not solely responsible. He acknowledged his messages were abusive and should not have been sent, attributing his behavior partly to arrogance stemming from his job success. Whyte countered that Street was more than a "maverick" officer, arguing that his strong arrest rates did not excuse his "out of control" behavior, which she characterized as repeatedly breaking rules and disregarding public trust, behaving "precisely like the criminals he loved to despise."