Carl Edwards 37

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Former Merseyside Police officer Carl Edwards jailed for misconduct involving vulnerable teenager and sex workers

Carl Edwards, 37, of Sunflower Close, Woodchurch, Wirral, has been jailed for 15 months at Chester Crown Court. He was convicted in July of three counts of misconduct in a public office and two data protection offences.

During a welfare check in December 2023 on a high-risk 17-year-old who had just returned after being reported missing, Edwards spent 90 minutes alone with her in a bedroom. He did not activate his body-worn camera. The teenager later told a support worker that he made her feel uncomfortable by attempting to touch her, offering her a drag on his vape, and asking if he could pick her up after work. He showed her pictures of the car he would use and made sexual comments about what he wanted to do with her.

An IOPC-directed investigation by Merseyside Police’s Anti-Corruption Unit, which began in April 2024 after reports of an “officer called Carl” regularly attending the Sheil Road area of Kensington in Liverpool (an area frequented by sex workers), also established that Edwards had contact with at least two sex workers while on duty between June 2022 and December 2023. One said he flirted with her from a marked police vehicle, asked how much she charged, turned up unannounced outside her home, and often passed her on the street. The other reported that when she approached him about an assault, he asked if she would take part in group sex with another woman for money instead of investigating the offence.

Edwards also searched police systems for information on a Wirral organised crime group without any policing purpose. He resigned before a misconduct hearing that would have resulted in his dismissal for gross misconduct.

Amanda Rowe of the IOPC said the offending was:

“a deliberate and prolonged pattern of criminal behaviour which seemed to only escalate over time and culminated with his abhorrent actions when visiting a vulnerable girl who would have undoubtedly placed trust in him at the time.” 

She described the 17-year-old and the adult women as “brave,” noting that their accounts helped uncover further offences.

Det Ch Supt Sabi Kaur said:

“In abusing his position of trust with victims of crimes in pursuit of his own gratification, Edwards behaviour was nothing short of abhorrent.”

This account is based on reported details of the conviction, investigation, and court outcome.