- The Guardian Saturday 30 April 2022
(^36) National
Nadeem Badshah
A former police offi cer who had sex
with vulnerable women and pursued
inappropriate relationships after
meeting them in the course of his
duties has been jailed for three years.
Oliver Perry-Smith was described
as a “sexual predator” who “abused
his power” and “broke public trust”
by pursuing female members of
the public for sex whil e at Thames
Valley police.
The Independent Offi ce for Police
Conduct (IOPC) watchdog began an
investigation in November 2019 and
found that Perry-Smith had a case
to answer for gross misconduct. The
IOPC said the offi cer pursued six
women between September 2014
and November 2019 that he had met
through his duties.
The 38-year-old, who joined
Thames Valley police in 2009 and
Jessica Murray and agencies
A man has been sentenced to 14 years
in prison for the manslaughter of his
14-week-old daughter, who died after
sustaining a catastrophic brain injury.
Christopher Easey, 31, was con-
victed of the manslaughter and
neglect of Eleanor at Norwich crown
court in March after a 10-week trial
that heard the infant had suff ered
three bleeds on the brain and 31 rib
fractures before her death.
Eleanor’s mother, Carly Easey,
36, was found guilty of one count of
neglect and given a 12-month com-
munity order requir ing her to take
part in a programme of activities.
Mr Justice Edward Murray said
he was “sure” Christopher was the
one who “infl icted all the serious
injuries Eleanor suff ered” and that
Carly “didn’t know [her] husband was
injuring [their] baby and had done so
on multiple occasions”.
The jurors rejected his account
passed its exam to become a ser-
geant, had sexual contact with three
and tried to establish sexual contact
with the others, the watchdog said.
He also looked up the details of
one of those women and a seventh
woman on the force’s computer sys-
tems for no policing purpose whil e
based at Newbury police station, the
IOPC added.
The watchdog ruled that the
women had all been in vulnerable
positions either because they were
subject to a police complaint requir-
ing investigation or else were victims,
witnesses or acting as appropriate
adults for young victims of crime.
His actions were uncovered in 2019
when a woman called police after
Perry-Smith, who had previously
attended the home of her friend,
texted her an indecent image.
On another occasion he used
a police computer to identify a
woman using her car registration
that he “dropped Eleanor on her head
having been distracted by the dogs
barking”, the judge said.
Eleanor was taken to hospital on
18 December 2019 after being found
unresponsive at home and died two
days later. Experts said her injuries
were consistent with non-acciden-
tal head trauma.
The jury heard that, after being
born two weeks premature, Eleanor
spent her fi rst weeks of life in inten-
sive care. Hospital staff alerted social
services after noting that the family
seemed to have little interest in the
newborn. A postmortem recorded
that she was poorly nourished.
Elizabeth Marsh QC, for Carly ,
said Eleanor “was killed through no
action or inaction” by her mother.
Sally O’Neill QC, mitigating for Chris-
topher , said the “very inexperienced
father” would “carry to his grave ...
the knowledge what he did caused
the injuries to his baby daughter”.
after parking next to her and watch-
ing her go into a shop, the IOPC said.
Perry-Smith, from Newbury, sub-
sequently called at her home without
a policing purpose and made personal
comments about her appearance,
despite knowing she was alone with
a young child, the watchdog said.
The woman became suspicious
and made a complaint to the IOPC.
The former PC pleaded guilty to
three charges of misconduct in public
offi ce, and two charges of unauthor-
ised access to computer material,
contrary to the Computer Misuse
Act 1990.
Perry-Smith, who resigned from
Thames Valley police on 8 February
this year, was sentenced at Reading
crown court to three years and six
months in prison.
IOPC regional director Graham
Beesley said: “Perry-Smith was a sex-
ual predator and his conduct caused
signifi cant distress to the women
involved. He was prolifi c in the abuse
of his position over a fi ve-year period
and his acts were intentional, delib-
erate, targeted and planned .”
He said Perry-Smith’s actions had
“seriously undermined the good
work of the large majority of police
offi cers who professionally serve the
public on a daily basis”.
Charles White, of the Crown Pros-
ecution Service, said: “Perry-Smith
abused his power, broke public trust,
and made many women feel unsafe .”
‘Predatory’
police offi cer
jailed for
three years
Man sentenced
to 14 years for
manslaughter
of baby daughter
▲ 14-week-old Eleanor Easey, who
died after suff ering a brain injury
▲ Oliver Perry-Smith ‘abused his
power’, targeting vulnerable women