Retired West Yorkshire Police officers charged with child sex offences
Two retired police officers have been charged with child sex offences dating back to the 1990s.West Yorkshire Police said two of its former officers each faced charges of rape and indecent assault against a girl aged under 16, with the alleged offences committed between 1992 and 1995.William Baker, 78, of Hayle in Cornwall, and Ian Hopkinson, 63, of Redcar in Cleveland, would face Leeds Magistrates' Court on 7 May, the force said.The pair were arrested in June 2024 after a woman came forward the previous year to report the offences which were alleged to have taken place in West Yorkshire while they were serving officers.
Both men were working at the time in the Mounted Section, then based in Pontefract, where Mr Baker held the rank of sergeant and Mr Hopkinson was a constable, the force said.Mr Baker is charged with three counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years and two counts of rape of a female under 16 years.Mr Hopkinson is charged with five counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years and five counts of rape of a female under 16 years.A third former West Yorkshire Police officer was also arrested over the allegations, but has since died, with the force adding that "it was determined there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death".
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wales Online
13-06-2025
- Wales Online
Shop boss running illegal £1m tobacco operation ordered to pay £87k and sell BMW
Shop boss running illegal £1m tobacco operation ordered to pay £87k and sell BMW The shop was described as a 'very busy and successful' cash-based business which was being run 'primarily for the purposes of selling illicit tobacco' Swansea Crown Court heard the Groszek store in Llanelli town centre was run 'primarily for the purposes of selling illicit tobacco' (Image: Google ) One of the bosses of a shop used in a £1m counterfeit tobacco operation has been ordered to pay back tens of thousands of pounds and to sell a BMW vehicle. Shoresh Mhmood faces 10 months in prison if £86,927 isn't handed over in three months. Mhmood's co-defendant in the illegal operation, Aran Baker, has been ordered to pay £630. Swansea Crown Court has previously heard that officers from Carmarthenshire Council carried out a series of test purchases at the Groszek shop on Cowell Street in Llanelli town centre during 2021 and 2022 during which illicit cigarettes were bought. Searches were then carried out at the home addresses of the directors of the business, 35-year-old Mhmood and 48-year-old Baker. The court heard 9,500 counterfeit cigarettes including brands such as Mayfair, some 170 pouches of tobacco, and a safe containing £32,699 in cash were found in Mhmood's house while 89,000 counterfeit cigarettes were found at Baker's home. Read about a criminal gang which was running a multi-million-pound operation selling counterfeit cigarettes and nitrous oxide canisters through a network of corner shops in south Wales Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said it was the prosecution case that the Cowell Street premises was a largely cash-based operation and was a "very busy and successful shop run primarily for the purposes of selling illicit tobacco". Article continues below He said handwritten records discovered during the investigation suggested that on the quietest day of the week - usually Sundays - the shop was taking £615 from the sale of illicit tobacco while on busy days it was up to £2,225. The prosecutor said the average daily figure was more than £1,200 and that across the 817-day span of the indictment that would result in a value of just under £1m. Shoresh Salih Mhmood, of Dillwyn Street, Llanelli, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and Aran Baker, of Penciliogi, Llanelli, to 51 months in prison for engaging in fraudulent business practices. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter The case returned to court for a proceeds of crime hearing following an investigation into the defendants' finances. Mr Reynolds said it had been determined that each defendant had benefited from their criminal behaviour to the tune of £125,000 and that investigators had determined Baker had available assets of £630 in the form of money in a bank account while Mhmood had available assets totalling £89,927 in the form of cash, a "significant sum" in a bank account, and a BMW vehicle. The barrister said the BMW would now be sold to realise its value, likely by way of an auction. Article continues below The court made confiscation orders in the sums identified as available assets and set periods of custody in default of payment - seven days in the case of Baker and 10 months in the case of Mhmood.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- BBC News
Victim panicked after alleged sex assault by PC, court told
The victim of an alleged sex assault by a police firearms officer was left feeling "very panicked" by the incident, a jury has Meadows was said to have put his arms around the woman and "thrust" himself against her as she walked ahead of him on 25 September 2020, Bradford Crown Court Meadows, 45, from Doncaster, worked for North Yorkshire Police at the time of the incident but later left the force. He denies a single charge of sexual Friday, a friend of the woman told the court she had confided in her a few months later and was "concerned" about speaking up. She said: "She was anxious, upset and very panicked when she told me."She also described how the victim told her that Mr Meadows had pushed his body on to her sexually from behind and whispered in her a separate conversation, the woman told her Mr Meadows had grabbed his crotch and made suggestive remarks, which the victim had found friend told the trial that the alleged incident had turned the woman from a "positive, bubbly person who would generate conversation" into a more introverted person.A second friend also told the jury on Friday that the victim got "visibly upset" when she told her about the incident and had felt reluctant to bring it Meadows no longer works for the being arrested, he described the complaint as "false" and "malicious" in a pre-prepared statement, but answered "no comment" to questions trial continues. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- BBC News
Bradford murder trial date set after man stabbed to death
A trial date has been set for a man accused of murdering a 19-year-old who was stabbed to Junaid Khan died following a knife fight in Loughrigg Street, in the West Bowling area of Bradford, on 6 June. Two other men aged, 27 and 24, were also Mehmood, 18, of Woodroyd Road, Bradford, appeared at Bradford Crown Court earlier charged with murder, attempted murder, assault causing actual bodily harm and possession of a knife in a public the brief hearing a trial date was set for 11 May 2026 before Mr Mehmood was remanded in custody ahead of his next appearance on 17 July. To date eight other people have been arrested in connection with Mr Khan's death. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
