Jailed officer who sent explicit texts to 15-year-old girl sacked

Daniel Cookson (30), who worked in Rotherham, was jailed for 18-months after being found guilty following a four-day trial last month.

He was suspended from his position when he was arrested and charged in August 2014 and at a special case hearing involving the Chief Constable today, which Cookson was not present for, he was dismissed from the force.

Det Supt Terry Mann, head of the force's professional standards department, said: “Members of the public quite rightly expect higher standards and behaviour from our officers and staff and anyone who is found to have fallen short of those standards and be suspected of committing a crime will be thoroughly and professionally investigated.

“The force expects its staff to act with integrity and professionalism to ensure people receive a high quality service and have a police service they can be proud of. 

“Following his conviction, it was clear that Cookson could never serve as a police officer again. 

“I would like to reassure the public that once the force was aware of the allegations, we acted swiftly and professionally to bring him to justice and have dismissed Cookson as soon as legislation and associated guidance would allow.”

Cookson, of Dickens Road, Worksop, was arrested in November 2013 after the girl’s parents saw inappropriate text messages from him on their daughter’s phone and reported it to police. 

An investigation found he had sent a number of messages to the girl between March and November 2013 pressurising her to send naked pictures.

Cookson has also been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for ten years.