Former Royal Protection Officer Convicted of Misconduct Charges

A former royal protection officer, who was found to have “pestered” a victim of revenge porn and stored an intimate video and images of her on his work phone, has been found guilty of misconduct charges. During a two-week trial, it was disclosed that ex-West Mercia PC Mark Cranfield, 52, from Bromfield, Shropshire, transmitted inappropriate social media messages and a friend request to the woman, who was described as highly vulnerable. He was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court on two counts of misconduct in a public office and one computer misuse offence. Cranfield, who was stationed in Ludlow, is scheduled for sentencing on 13 February. The defendant had denied three counts of misconduct while in public office and a computer misuse offence, following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). He was acquitted of a third misconduct offence, which pertained to the social media friend request. The officer was also accused of sharing details of his marital sex life with the victim and forwarding intimate video and images to a WhatsApp account that has not been traced. A jury of four women and eight men deliberated for three days before unanimously convicting Cranfield of three of the offences, despite his assertions that he had no sexual interest in the woman. The court heard that he had made his attraction to the woman evident in 2018 when she filed a complaint and provided evidence to police, at which point he told her: “I’m glad I got to see the pictures.” He stated that he believed he had deleted the two images and video, which were subsequently discovered on his work phone more than two years after the revenge porn investigation had concluded. However, he denied claims that he had been “titillated” by the video and maintained that he had only contacted the woman on the social media app to discuss “everyday” issues. The court was informed that the former officer then sent messages “pestering” the woman, inquiring about her well-being and remarking that his sex life with his wife “had gone out of the window.” Cranfield had also deleted one of his two Facebook accounts in an attempt to cover his tracks, the trial revealed. Mr Rippon added that the woman later retracted her complaint relating to revenge porn because “she just didn’t want to deal with this defendant any more.” Following the verdicts, Cranfield sobbed audibly in the dock as his barrister requested an adjournment for pre-sentence reports, with judge Kerry Maylin granting unconditional bail. IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell stated that Cranfield’s actions had “prevented allegations of a criminal offence being fully investigated” and that he had accessed police systems without a policing purpose. “He had no legitimate reason for doing so and his actions have the potential to damage the public’s confidence in police officers,” Campbell added.