‘Sexist and racist’ Merseyside officer dismissed on third attempt

A police sergeant who sent a series of demeaning and sexual messages about women including colleagues resigned following repeated attempts by his force to dismiss him.

Sgt Craig Baker previously kept his job against the wishes of Merseyside Police in 2022 when an independent panel handed him a final written warning over “old school racism” towards a fellow officer.

The force applied to the High Court for a judicial review and a new hearing was ordered on the same allegation – but Sgt Baker was spared the sack again in February 2024.

However, new allegations emerged including that he called a fellow officer a “slag” and used an offensive slur towards then Chief Constable Serena Kennedy.

The first two misconduct hearings were chaired by an independent lawyer, before the law was changed in May 2024 to make it easier to dismiss officers found guilty of gross misconduct.

The changes in the law, which were prompted by the murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens, also meant all misconduct panels would be chaired by a senior police officer rather than an independent lawyer.

The most recent hearing, on 29 August, concluded Sgt Baker would have been sacked had he not resigned.

Det Ch Supt Sabi Kaur, head of Merseyside’s professional standards department, said the former sergeant’s messages were “targeted towards women”.

“This was a pattern of behaviour over several years and it’s only right that he would have been dismissed had he not already resigned,” she said.

The messages, sent between 2018 and 2022, included online chats with colleagues where they discussed female officers, including one Sgt Baker described as: “Mad in the head, good in bed”.

The misconduct panel heard Sgt Baker had been sent videos of sexual acts and asked colleagues to “send nudes” and other videos while he was on duty.

He also asked a colleague whether anyone was talking about his misconduct cases and the fact the chief constable was taking the 2022 decision to a judicial review – using a highly derogatory term to refer to her.

The panel heard he also mocked and criticised Officer C, who had been the victim of his racist comments in the original misconduct case, despite previous apologies.

Retired Deputy Chief Constable of Cheshire Police, Julie Cooke, who chaired the panel, said in a written judgment: “These more recent comments appear to fly in the face of apologies the former officer made to this person.”

DCC Cooke said Sgt Baker’s messages showed he had “deep seated attitudinal behaviours”.

The decision means Sgt Baker’s name has been added to the College of Policing’s barred list, prohibiting from working in the police in future.