Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Friday 14th March 2025, at 18:00hrs
Paul Harold, a 47-year-old former police officer from Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, has been found guilty of indecent assault against a teenage girl, following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
The verdict was delivered today, Friday, March 14, 2025.
The case stemmed from a report made in 2020 by a woman who detailed an indecent assault that occurred in May 1997, when she was 15 years old. Harold, who was interviewed in June 2020, denied the allegations.
The court heard that on May 24, 1997, Harold, then a police officer, arrested the victim, who was living in a care home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, on suspicion of shoplifting.
During her time in custody, Harold wrote his personal phone number on the back of her hand and subsequently contacted her at her residence.
The two then began meeting, with Harold taking the victim out in his car. On one occasion, he took her to his home, where the indecent assault took place.
At the time of the offence, Harold had been a police officer for nine months, having joined the force in October 1996 and resigning in June 1997.
Deputy Chief Constable Jon Roy condemned Harold’s actions, stating,
“This was a clear abuse of responsibility and trust from a police officer who swore an oath to act with integrity and to act within the law only nine months before.
I’m grateful to the victim who bravely came forward and told us about Harold’s behaviour.
Our communities rightly expect police officers to maintain exemplary standards of integrity and professionalism, and the outcome of this case is an indication of how far below these standards his behaviour fell.”
Harold is scheduled to be sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on April 28, 2025.
G2K INCIDENT WATCH 