03 August 2023 , 11:30
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A police officer has pleaded guilty to a sex offence against a girl which the court heard was filmed on her phone.
Pc Luke Christopher Horner, of Thames Valley Police, travelled to Rushden, Northamptonshire while off duty to commit the offence on June 11 this year. The 24-year-old from Amersham, Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual activity with a child at Northampton Crown court on Thursday.
A second count, of making an indecent image of a child, was removed from the indictment, with prosecutor Ben Gow claiming this offence formed part of the sexual activity. He also said the defendant recorded the act on his victim's phone.
He said: "I understand that the pleas are entered on the basis he did record [the sexual activity] and the phone was in his hand. The phone was not his phone, it was belonging to the child in question.
"It can be seen in his hand in the video. We regard this as one of the culpability features of the offence in question." Wearing a light grey suit, white shirt and blue tie, Horner spoke only to confirm his identity and enter his plea over a video link from HMP Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire.
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Horner was charged by Northamptonshire Police, but has been suspended by Thames Valley which has launched a separate misconduct probe. The force has also referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Judge Rebecca Crane remanded Horner into further custody until sentencing at the same court on September 8.