Mark Brigham

A former police constable with the Metropolitan Police has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison following his admission of guilt on four counts of sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy. The incident occurred in Portsmouth in 2008, where Mark Brigham, then aged 38 and residing in Hackney, east London, abused his position of trust.

The court heard that Brigham, who had served as a police officer for nine years and acted as a lesbian and gay liaison officer, was approached by the boy's family for advice after their son came out as homosexual. At a party in August 2008, Brigham befriended the teenager, who was off-duty at the time. Despite being informed of the boy's age, Brigham proceeded to engage in consensual sex acts with him. Prosecuting, Matthew Lawson stated that Brigham had described the victim as 'stunning' to others at the party, even after learning he was only 15 years old. Following the event, Brigham maintained contact with the boy via text messages and the Facebook website.

The boy later disclosed the encounters to his family, leading to Brigham's suspension from the force and subsequent resignation. At Portsmouth Crown Court, Judge Roger Hetherington highlighted the aggravating factors, noting: 'The offences are aggravated by the disparity of age between the two of you - you were more than twice his age. You were someone he could expect to look up to and expect some guidance from.' The judge also acknowledged that Brigham had received warnings about the boy's age but succumbed to temptation.

In addition to the custodial sentence, Brigham was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely and prohibited from working with children. The case was investigated by Hampshire Police, with Detective Constable Dave Anderson commenting afterwards: 'It's a sad end to an officer's career but also it will give some finalisation for the victim.' This incident underscores the betrayal of public trust by a serving officer, as reported by BBC News on 1 April 2009.