PC admits pretending to be paedophile hunter to blackmail suspect

A police officer has admitted trying to blackmail a man suspected of possessing child abuse images by pretending to be from a paedophile hunting group.

South Yorkshire PC Marie Thompson sent the suspect an anonymous email in 2023 claiming to be from “Paedophile Hunters” and told him to pay £3,500 to “ensure that information stays between us”.

The man reported the email contact to South Yorkshire Police, with Thompson, 29, subsequently recording the suspect did not want to pursue a complaint.

At Leeds Crown Court, Thompson, of Andover Street, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to blackmail and perverting the course of justice.

Thompson, who remains suspended from the force, was the lead investigator in the man’s case and had arrested and interviewed him in October 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

In January 2023, the man received an email demanding £3,500 be paid into a bank account, with an account number and sort code provided.

She anonymously texted the man’s partner after sending the email to warn a response to the communication was required by the end of the day.

He never transferred any money, the CPS said, with Thompson later sending a further email from the same account to apologise and said she had been “desperate”.

Six weeks later, she lied to the suspect again and told him the sender of the emails and text message could not be traced.

An internal investigation was launched when suspicions were raised about Thompson, with the PC arrested in October 2023 and suspended from duties.

When another officer took over the indecent images investigation and was informed of the report of blackmail, it was discovered that the text had been sent from Thompson’s personal mobile phone.

The internal inquiry found evidence the emails had been sent from her laptop, South Yorkshire Police said, with Thompson in “significant debt through gambling”.

Malcolm McHaffie, head of the CPS’ special crime division, described her actions as “disgraceful” and “reprehensible”.

“Her conduct amounted to a serious abuse of the trust which we rightly have in anyone in public office to perform their duties,” he said.

The service would “always work hard to prosecute corruption of this nature”, Mr McHaffie added.

Det Supt James Axe, from South Yorkshire Police, said: “Thompson’s actions were wholly inexcusable.

“Her deceitful offending is shameful and her former colleagues are as horrified by these crimes as members of the public will be.”

She was bailed ahead of a sentencing hearing on 30 October.