A former special constable jailed for trying to engage in sexual online chat with a child is back behind bars after breaching a strict court order imposed as part of his original sentence.
Jack Baxter, now aged 27 was on duty as a trained police volunteer when he engaged in sexual interaction with who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl while at work.
He was arrested in November 2016 as part of an investigation by Lancashire Constabulary’s online child abuse investigation team. At the time Baxter, who was living in Manchester, had been based in the force’s west division, which covers Morecambe, Fleetwood and Blackpool.
In October, 2017, a Preston Crown Court judge imposed an immediate 15-month jail term after Baxter admitted two offences of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, and misconduct in public office.
That sentencing prompted Deputy Chief Constable Sunita Gamblin to say: “Baxter’s behaviour was clearly completely unacceptable of a serving officer. His actions have not only disgraced his own reputation but tarnished that of the vast majority of officers and staff in Lancashire Constabulary who serve our communities with professionalism, compassion and dedication.
“Wherever we find malpractice and wrongdoing within Lancashire Constabulary we will continue to root it out to ensure that people can have confidence and trust in us.”
As part of his punishment Baxter — then of Gorton, Manchester, and now of Highgate, Kendal, Cumbria — was made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) which imposed strict restrictions on his online activities.
But Baxter was back in the dock in 2019 for unlawful possession of electronic equipment as he sought to contact females using social media. As a result he was ordered to complete 24 months’ rehabilitation work under probation service supervision. However, he again failed to keep out of trouble.
Prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court on Monday there was a “lengthy set of conditions” attached to the SHPO. “One of which was that he oughtn’t to delete his internet history,” said Mr Evans. “That he has done, and accepts by virtue of his pleas, on two occasions.”
Baxter admitted breaching the SHPO on two separate dates. The first was October 17, 2022 — five years exactly to the date that he was originally jailed — and the second on October 31 last year.
It had become apparent to a supervising officer that Baxter had accessed the male-only Grindr app on those two occasions. “But the internet history had gone from that device,” said Mr Evans. “The defendant was interviewed on his arrest. He admitted installing and deleting the Grindr app from his phone. He said he used the application because he was looking for friends.”
Anthony Parkinson, defending, said the latest offending had not involved him coming into contact with females in the way that the SHPO was designed to prevent. Baxter had previously studied criminology at university in Lancaster and then obtained the position of a special constable with a view, said Mr Parkinson, to him joining the force.
Personal trauma had latterly made it a “difficult and challenging time” for Baxter. “Since then, he says his mental health has been at a low ebb,” said Mr Parkinson of the warehouse worker. “It appears he still needs some degree of support in relation to his mental health and emotional well-being.”
But Judge Nicholas Barker noted the probation service had found it difficult to support a community sanction given the previous breaches and attempts to rehabilitate him.
“It is a deliberate breach,” said Judge Barker of the latest offence. “I am at one with the observations of the probation officer that there cannot really (currently) be a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”
The judge imposed an immediate six-month prison sentence saying that an immediate custodial sentence “must be imposed”.
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