PC encouraged sister to post naked photos of woman

At a police hearing in April, Sophie Brown was found to have committed gross misconduct

A police officer who encouraged her sister to post explicit photos of their father's mistress on an escort website committed gross misconduct, it can be revealed.

Sophie Brown, who worked as a West Yorkshire Police patrol officer, and her sister, Eleanor, plotted to take "revenge" on the woman by uploading the pictures and creating a fake profile on the adult site.

A police misconduct hearing ruled Sophie Brown would have been sacked from her job had she not already resigned.

The outcome of the hearing in April can only now be reported after Eleanor Brown, from Morley, in Leeds, pleaded guilty midway through a trial at Leeds Crown Court to two counts of disclosing the photos without consent.

The misconduct hearing earlier this year was told that between 27 August and 8 September 2022, the sisters had engaged in a campaign of “bullying and harassment” against their victim which was motivated by “revenge”.

Messages between the siblings showed how they had initially planned to set up a profile of the victim on the Gumtree website, where they intended to post the naked photos and advertise sexual services for £5.

They then switched their discussions to using an escort site and adding the woman's husband's phone number to the profile.

Sophie Brown admitted exchanging messages with her sister, but denied setting up the profile herself.

The panel heard that while many of the actions were carried out by Eleanor, they had been “initiated” and “encouraged” by Sophie.

The hearing was told that the victim and her husband had suffered “alarm and distress” after the phone number was called several times.

'Not revenge'

Police Federation representative Sgt Luke Stead told the misconduct hearing the incidents had happened over a short period and the family had been under stress at the time.

Sophie Brown, who interrupted the proceedings on multiple occasions, said: “This was not revenge. We were taking the mick out of her because of the photos she’d sent to my dad."

She was found guilty of gross misconduct, but cleared of an unrelated allegation of racial discrimination, though she had admitted using a racially offensive slur in phone messages to her sister on multiple occasions.

Panel chair Andrew Clemes said the “messages exchanged were offensive and derogatory”, but the context was “unclear”.

The hearing was told Sophie Brown had resigned from West Yorkshire Police after the allegations came to light, having only served for a short period of time.

The misconduct panel ruled she would have been dismissed from the force had she still been serving.

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