Jake Cummings, a former special constable with Dorset Police and later a police officer with the Metropolitan Police in London, has been convicted and sentenced for a series of serious sexual and abusive offences against three women. The abuse, which spanned from July 2019 to February 2024, involved extensive controlling and coercive behaviour, stalking, voyeurism, and rapes, leading to severe psychological harm for the victims.
At St Albans Crown Court, Cummings was found guilty by a jury of three counts of coercive controlling behaviour, two counts of voyeurism, and two counts of rape during a retrial. He also admitted to two counts of stalking and was convicted of a third. Judge Bilal Siddique sentenced him to a total of 16 years' imprisonment, with an additional two-year extended licence period, for these 10 offences. The judge described the offending as a 'campaign of abuse' that was 'anything but impulsive', noting the 'sheer volume of contact' and Cummings' abuse of his position as a police officer.
The Nature of the Offences
- Cummings employed a strikingly similar pattern of abuse against each victim, bombarding them with messages, isolating them from friends, family, and colleagues, and subjecting them to degradation and humiliation.
- He used tracking apps such as Life360 and Team Viewer to monitor one victim's location, created multiple fake social media accounts to harass her, and even drove uninvited to her residence.
- In one instance, he watched a victim via security cameras, constituting voyeurism.
- The rapes involved two of the women and were part of the broader coercive control, with victims reporting feeling helpless and losing autonomy over their lives.
During the Covid-19 restrictions, Cummings exploited his police role to instil fear, telling one victim that rules 'only applied when he wanted' and that he could have 'as many bubbles as he wanted' due to his job. When threatened with police reports, he taunted her, claiming his insider knowledge would lead to the complaint being dismissed.
Victim Impact Statements, as presented in court, highlighted the profound effects: One woman stated, 'It has had a significant psychological toll on me. I struggle to go out alone even now... I can't walk the dog on my own anymore.' Another said, 'He made me feel awful on a daily basis. I didn't have a say in my own life.' The third recounted, 'Every morning I would dread waking up. I felt helpless as I lost all autonomy and control over my life. He dictated everything for me.'
The investigation began in February 2024 when the first victim reported to Hertfordshire Constabulary's Sexual Offences Investigation Team. Media coverage prompted a second victim to come forward that same month, and a third was identified via data from Cummings' mobile device in April 2024. The case was later transferred to the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit due to its complexity. Cummings was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police following a disciplinary hearing that found gross misconduct.
Evidence from colleagues, including Met officer Zak Russell, confirmed Cummings' obsessive behaviour, noting he was 'constantly on his phone' during shifts, messaging at all hours. Judge Siddique remarked from the bench, 'The totality of your offending demonstrates you don't take no for an answer from women... You were a serving police officer. Your offending must have been abundantly obvious to you.'
This case, reported by Dorset Echo and drawing on details from USA Today via a subscriber partnership, underscores the betrayal of public trust by a former officer in a position of authority.