LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A detective constable of the Greater Manchester Police, Manchester, U.K, Stephen Hardy, has been sentenced to 26 years for raping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl, Sky News reports.
Hardy was on Wednesday found guilty of 20 offences, including six counts of rape, following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Delivering the judgment, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said during the sentencing that Hardy used his teenage victim as a “puppet or sex object.”
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“You have never shown one iota of remorse for your behaviour.
“The indictment reflects a highly calculated and cynical course of grooming behaviour,” Trevor-Jones said.
He described the detective constable as having a “devious” personality with a “sinister streak.”
“You have been a long-serving police officer. That is a career that will now inevitably end,” the judge added.
Trevor-Jones lamented that, even though Hardy was aware of the trauma faced by rape victims, it was “aggravating” that he still proceeded with the unlawful act.
“You would have been well aware of the widespread and lasting trauma that victims of sexual abuse suffer and yet you gave no thought to that and that is an aggravating factor,” the judge lamented.
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Posecuting counsel, Vanessa Thomson, said the victim, who was in court with members of her family during the hearing, reported the abuse to Police in 2020.
Thomson described the defendant (Hardy) as “a controlling and manipulative man.”
Counsel to the defendant, Laura Nash, said Hardy continued to deny all the offences and that he would “inevitably” find his prison sentence “harder than most” because he was a Police officer.
The victim (identity undisclosed), said the abuse had permanently affected her mental health and left her scared for her future.
She also noted that she was not sure she would ever be able to fully trust members of law enforcement.
“I maintain a deep fear of authority figures, despite overcoming that fear to report these crimes. His position in the Greater Manchester Police force has deeply affected me,” she stressed.
