Disgraced cop given council leadership role

CITY AUTHORITY UNDER FIRE AFTER HIRING EX-SERGEANT WHO FACED STRING OF POLICE MISCONDUCT HEARINGS

- By LIAM THORP

A DISGRACED former police sergeant who sent a series of lewd and offensive messages targeted towards women including describing a female officer as 'mad in the head, good in bed' - was given a leadership role with Liverpool City Council, the ECHO can reveal.

Last week it was revealed that Craig Baker had been found to have committed gross misconduct over a series of demeaning messages about women that he sent and received between 2018 and 2022.

This included begging for someone to 'send nudes' to him while on duty.

Now the city council is being accused of failing to carry out due diligence over the hiring of the sanctioned former police officer when hiring him into a leadership role with its parking enforcement team.

An opposition leader has also accused the local authority of a lack of transparency in its initial responses to the matter.

The council says it has taken 'appropriate action in line with our policies and procedures.

Mr Baker previously appeared before a police misconduct hearing in 2022 where he was sanctioned over comments he made about a fellow officer's ethnicity.

He appeared yet again in 2024 after making the 'worst possible racist joke' to a mixed-race colleague but he was again able to keep his job.

The most recent misconduct panel - held on August 29 - found that the 47-year-old former sergeant had breached the standards of professional behaviour, having engaged in several inappropriate online chats while on duty.