Police officer sacked for paying for sex worker

Jonathan Trainer has been dismissed without notice

A police officer has been sacked after a disciplinary hearing concluded he paid for the services of a sex worker.

Jonathan Trainer, who had worked for West Yorkshire Police in the Huddersfield area since 2005, was dismissed without notice following a gross misconduct hearing for discreditable conduct.

The hearing was told the father-of-two from Bradford was caught with the woman in his car by a fellow police officer in Bolton on 13 February last year.

The panel's chair Wendy Evans said his actions "ran the risk of severely undermining public confidence in the police and their role in safeguarding vulnerable persons."

Mr Trainer denied any sexual activity had taken place and told the panel he was currently in a relationship.

However, they described his account of events as "inconsistent" and said they were "satisfied that the woman in the vehicle was a sex worker and that [the officer] had used her services".

Mr Trainer, who told the panel he worked in the force's Continuous Improvement Team, had previously worked with vulnerable people in Kirklees, Ms Evans said.

She added: "It was [his] duty to protect the most vulnerable members of our society and not to use them for his own personal gratification".

On Wednesday, the panel was told PC Daniel Graham from Greater Manchester Police spotted what appeared to be an "exchange" between Mr Trainer and a woman he recognised as a drug user when he drove past the pair in a marked police car.

Mr Trainer was alleged to have initially denied knowing the woman before changing his account when challenged by PC Graham after he was pulled over.

He told the hearing he had been in Bolton to visit a gym he was thinking of joining when he bumped into the woman, whom he claimed to have known from going out in Bolton some years previously, before giving her a lift.

But PC Graham said the woman later told him that Mr Trainer had picked her up from Lever Street - an area known for prostitution, the panel heard - before adding: "I worked, then he dropped me off."

'Not of good character'

The panel was told Mr Trainer had been given a formal warning in 2006 after his car was spotted in a red light district in Bradford.

He also received a written warning from the force in 2015 after sending a "number of text messages" purporting to be from the ex-partner of his current partner and which contained racial connotations.

Ms Evans said thee incidents meant the former officer, who had been placed on restricted duties prior to the hearing, "cannot be treated as a person of good character".

"The panel are entirely satisfied that [his] behaviour amounts to that of gross misconduct," she added.

He was subsequently dismissed without notice and will be placed on the College of Policing barred list.

Det Ch Supt Nicola Bryar, head of West Yorkshire Police’s Professional Standards Directorate, said: “Everyone working in policing holds a privileged position in society and it is important that their behaviour both on and off duty does not bring discredit on the police service.

“While no crime was recorded by Greater Manchester Police, there were concerns that the officer had acted in an unethical way that does not fit with the values of West Yorkshire Police."

The BBC successfully applied to overturn a reporting restriction which had previously prevented Mr Trainer from being named publicly.

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