Teenager performed oral sex on Durham PC in force car

Daryl William Edmunds, who went on to become a sergeant based in Darlington before quitting the force in 2014, was said to have led an otherwise exemplary career path both while a serving officer and since moving on from policing.

But his “folly” with the young woman he assisted as a young constable, has now cost him his liberty more than 25 years since the incident.

The 53-year-old defendant, now living in Addlestone, in Surrey, appeared at Durham Crown Court last month, when he admitted a single charge of misconduct in public office.

It went on to state that without reasonable excuse or justification, while acting as a public officer, namely a police constable, he wilfully misconducted himself by engaging, while on duty, in sexual activity with the named woman, who was said to be a police service user at the time.

Judge Jo Kidd adjourned that hearing to allow for preparation of a pre-sentence background report on Edmunds by the Probation Service, but she warned him to prepare himself for a term of immediate custody.

Read more: Darlington police sergeant defies odds to run the Great North Run

Ian West, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing that Edmunds came into contact with the teenager after she reported a crime.

Several months after  the teen was out in Bishop Auckland when she was informed the police were looking for her.

Mr West said she saw Edmunds, who took her for a drive during which he told her he was 26 and, “really liked her”.

He gave her a phone number to ring him at the police station, while he also sometimes called her at her grandmother’s address.

Mr West said some time after that the defendant picked the woman up in his police car while on duty in his uniform.

He drove to a remote lay-by near the village of Bolam, where they chatted and he told her she was “really attractive”, but he could never leave his wife.

Mr West said Edmunds then unzipped his trousers and “gently, but firmly” pushed her head towards his crotch area and she performed oral sex on him.

She was later to tell police that, on one hand, she did not know what she was doing, while on the other she did know what was taking place.

But she said she was “very inexperienced” at the time.

Mr West said Edmunds cleaned himself up and drove her home.

On another occasion, while off-duty, he picked her up and took her to a private place, where they had sexual intercourse.

She told her parents what took place and her mother told her it was “wrong” and rang the police station to speak to Edmunds, telling him it had to stop.

He agreed it would stop, apologising for his actions.

Mr West said it came to police attention in 2021 after the woman became angry after seeing friends of the defendants messaging him on Facebook.

She messaged him and told him to get in touch.

He did so, and she told him she was thinking of going to the police.

Read more court stories from The Northern Echo by clicking here

Mr West said the subject of the defendant paying her money came up during the conversation and she was initially interested, but she had second thoughts and did report it to the police.

Asked by Judge Kidd if there was a consideration of a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice being brought against Edmunds, Mr West said there was “undoubtedly discussion” about payment, but the Crown was not seeking to pursue a trial of issue over that aspect of the case.

Edmunds was arrested in December 2021 and interviewed under caution, but he declined to answer questions, a stance he repeated in a second interview, last year, prior to his guilty plea at last month’s hearing.

Reading from the victim’s police statement and subsequent impact statement, Mr West said the woman felt “violated” and “used” by the defendant who was in a position of power, while she was, “a vulnerable teenager”.

“He used me with complete disregard. I felt like a rag to discard.”

She said she respects the police and Edmunds was, “one bad egg”, who, in hindsight, was grooming her with flattery at a time when she was, “totally naïve”.

The victim added she hopes she can now get counselling to enable her to move on with her life.

Lee Marklew KC, for the defendant, told the court the defendant was of otherwise good character.

He provided a letter from the defendant plus several character references for the court.

Mr Marklew said the defendant had, “a lifetime of glowing service and dedication looking after the welfare of others.”

But he said the former Royal Navy lieutenant was only a few months into his police career when the offence took place during, “a void in his life” at a time his first marriage was failing.

He said his client has, however, shown a “steadfast loyalty” to his second wife, his children and family and questioned whether his career, now working with local councils in London and across the south should fall over “his folly”, from the late 1990s.

Mr Marklew said while a serving sergeant in the Durham force, up to 2014, the defendant earned recognition for his work developing ties with the Polish community in Darlington, work he has carried on, in various London boroughs in more recent years.

Judge Kidd said that at the time, Edmunds was, “a man of sufficient intellect and moral compass” to recognise the vulnerabilities of people in the community.

She described his behaviour to the young woman as, “predatory and exploitative”, and, he, “used and abused her vulnerabilities with no thought to her well-being at all.”

Judge Kidd said despite his apparent “impeccable behaviour and service” since then, his actions had undermined the public’s trust in police and the safeguarding of law and order.

She said despite the passage of time since the offence the appropriate punishment was an immediate custodial sentence.

Read next:

Woman and child asleep in Trimdon home when shotgun fired

St Helen Auckland man concealed criminal money in network of accounts

Driver jailed for dangerous police chase in Shiney Row

Get the latest news, sports, and entertainment delivered straight to your device with a subscription to The Northern Echo, by clicking here 
 

Imposing an immediate six-month sentence, she said she hoped the defendant could continue his good work on his release from custody.

She also made him subject of a five-year restraining order prohibiting Edmunds from contacting or approaching his victim.

Speaking after the hearing, a spokesman for Durham Police said: “We would like to thank the victim in this case for having the bravery to come forward to give evidence and we welcome the custodial sentence which has been handed down by the court.

“The public quite rightly expect the highest professional standards from our officers and anyone who betrays that position of trust to engage in abusive behaviour will be investigated and will be dealt with appropriately.”