Former police officer jailed for inappropriate relationship with girl has sentence tripled
Che Homersham, 37, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court in May after admitting to abusing his position as a police constable by attempting to instigate a sexual relationship with the girl.
He first met the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, while on duty responding to a domestic incident involving her mother in north London in December 2018, the court heard.
Homersham, from Southgate, north London, took the girl's personal details, including her telephone number, and called her the following day saying he needed to take a witness statement.
The former officer then drove the girl to the Harrow Viewpoint and asked to kiss her, which she refused.
Homersham's initial sentence was increased by 12 months after the Solicitor General, Lucy Rigby KC MP, referred it to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said on Tuesday.
Ms Rigby said: 'Homersham abused his position as a police officer – a role that rightly commands public trust – and I welcome the court's decision to increase his sentence.'
The former officer's inappropriate relationship continued with the teenager over several years, including by describing sexual fantasies and making sexual advances, the AGO said.
This included Homersham sending the girl a text in which he said he was going to 'pick her up from school and make love to her', the court was told.
Texts to the victim from Homersham were uncovered when he was arrested for a separate matter in August 2023.
Homersham was charged after an investigation by the Met's anti-corruption unit, which started in June 2023 and was carried out under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
He resigned from the Met in February last year after joining the force in July 2017.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
6 minutes ago
- BBC News
Bradford man jailed for keeping terrorist documents
A 21-year-old man has been jailed after he admitted having an online library of terrorist material. Leeds Crown Court heard Ondrej Sidelka, of Elwyn Road, Bradford, kept a Dropbox folder on his phone containing manuals on how to build firearms. He also saved racist, homophobic and antisemitic documents, such as Hitler's Mein Kampf and a graphic video of the 2019 attack on a New Zealand mosque by Brenton Tarrant, in which 51 people was sentenced to two years in prison and will spend a further year on licence. The court heard Sidelka had been arrested in November 2022 for an unrelated matter when he was 18 years old. When police searched his phone, they found a large quantity of neo-Nazi material, as well as guides on how to manufacture explosives and poisons. Propaganda material from the proscribed extreme far right terrorist groups Atomwaffen, Feuerkrieg Division and Terrorgram were also found in his cloud storage 25 May 2023, Sidelka was arrested by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North East. 'Subjected to torment' Frida Hussain KC, defending, said Sidelka had moved to Bradford with his family from Slovakia. "He was subjected to torment by others which has led to him being isolated and turning to the internet," she said. "He spent a lot of time gaming and accessing this material, he had no social life."Between the school years of nine to eleven, Ms Hussain claimed Sidelka had been "set fire to, attacked and had his nose broken" by a group of boys. "He felt like an outsider and was paranoid to leave home," she added.A probation officer described Sidelka as immature and of low intelligence, with no real attachment to the mindset identified in the materials. "He does not present as a well-rehearsed, well-connected racist," Ms Wilson court heard Sidelka had no connections to or memberships of terrorist pleaded guilty to eight counts of possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of the defendant, Judge Bayliss said: "You're a man who held racist, antisemitic, homophobic and neo-Nazi views. "You weren't just interested in the manufacture of firearms, you did it in the context of holding extreme right wing views."It is terrifying to think someone with your adherence to that ideology could contemplate having these in your possession."There must be an immediate custodial sentence."Sidelka will be subject to a Terrorism Notification Order for 10 years after he is released. 'Shocking and disturbing' Det Ch Supt James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: "The shocking and disturbing racist material Sidelka downloaded, as well as his interest in extreme violence and manufacturing homemade firearms, show the threat he posed to the community."The efforts he made to disguise his true identity online, and to post opinions on social media which were not as extreme as those he held in private, indicate that he knew how unacceptable his views really were."He added that Sidelka was 18 at the time of the offences and young people were "particularly vulnerable" when it came to being influenced by harmful ideologies."I would urge people to act early and help us to stop young people being drawn into extremism," he said. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
7 minutes ago
- BBC News
Ineos carer facing doping probe worked at Man Utd
The Ineos Grenadiers staff member who left the Tour de France after being asked to speak to the International Testing Agency (ITA) about doping allegations relating to the 2012 season worked at Manchester United last cycling team confirmed David Rozman had received an interview request from the ITA after initially being contacted in April, and "stepped back" from Tour duties last Slovenian is one of Ineos' soigneurs, a role that involves working as an assistant to riders and providing a range of services from logistics to has now emerged Rozman worked alongside United's soft tissue therapists for a one month placement in 2024 as part of a 'knowledge exchange' after Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner of the Sport has been told United had no knowledge of the recently published historic allegations and insiders claim they have no involvement in declined to comment. Ineos have been approached for comment. Ineos Grenadiers, then known as Team Sky, won the 2012 Tour de France, with Britain's Bradley Wiggins claiming the yellow jersey, and the team went on to win six of the next seven editions of the cycling team has confirmed that Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications, claiming that it then commissioned a review by an external law a statement at the time it said: "The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team."The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA. To date the team has received no evidence from any relevant authority."Both David and the team will of course co-operate with the ITA and any other authority."Earlier in July, the Irish Independent reported that in 2012, Rozman had exchanged messages with convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt.A documentary by German TV company ARD also linked Ineos to Schmidt but did not name the staff member 2021, Schmidt was sentenced to four years and 10 months in jail after being convicted of administering illegal blood transfusions to athletes within cycling and a number of other sports as part of Operation contacted by BBC Sport, the ITA said its investigations are "conducted confidentially" and "outcomes may only be shared if and when it yields the pursuit of one or more anti-doping rule violations."In June, Ineos director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford scaled back his involvement with Manchester United, having previously played a key role in football stepped down as team principal of Ineos Grenadiers after Ratcliffe acquired his stake in United but has returned to a key role at the cycling team and was present at this year's Tour de 61-year-old oversaw a sustained period of success at British Cycling and Team Sky and became synonymous with the 'marginal gains' his career has involved several controversies. Dr Richard Freeman - the former chief medic at both British Cycling and Team Sky - was banned from all sport for four years for violating anti-doping rules in August 2018, Brailsford appeared before a parliamentary committee to answer questions on the contents of a mystery "jiffy bag" Freeman had instructed be delivered to Wiggins before a 2011 race, amid an allegation it contained the banned anti-inflammatory drug followed the revelation Wiggins received therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for triamcinolone to treat asthma and allergies shortly before three major and Brailsford maintained the bag contained legal flu medication, and ultimately a parliamentary committee said it was unable to determine what was inside the jiffy a final report in 2018, the MPs accused Team Sky of "crossing an ethical line" in its use of TUEs more British Cycling, Team Sky and Ineos have always denied any wrongdoing.
Telegraph
8 minutes ago
- Telegraph
MoD civil servant to step down in wake of Afghan data leak
The Ministry of Defence's most senior civil servant is stepping down in the wake of the Afghan data breach. David Williams, the department's permanent secretary, is understood to be quitting in the autumn as part of a planned shake-up of the MoD senior leadership, The Telegraph understands. Mr Williams's departure comes amid ongoing fallout over the handling of a data leak that placed up to 100,000 Afghans at risk. A recruitment process for his successor is under way, an MoD spokesman confirmed. A career civil servant, Mr Williams worked in the MoD 's finance department before being seconded to the Department for Health and Social Care in 2020. He returned to the MoD as its permanent secretary in 2021. His successor will be appointed after Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, currently the head of the Royal Air Force, takes his post as Chief of the Defence Staff in September, it is understood. A new national armaments director – a senior civil servant in charge of defence procurement and infrastructure – is intended to be hired before the end of the year, although the recruitment process for that job has been ongoing since December. The MoD spokesman said: 'Permanent Secretary David Williams will step down this autumn, and the recruitment process for his successor is under way. Since 2021, David has led the department through a period of significant activity, and we thank him for his contribution.' A spreadsheet containing the details of 25,000 Afghans, including soldiers who fought alongside British special forces, together with family details, was accidentally leaked by a member of British special forces personnel in February 2022. As a result, 50,000 Afghan former soldiers and their family members were then brought to the UK at a cost of £7bn. When the MoD learnt of the breach more than a year later, it was granted a super-injunction to prevent the public from knowing the leaked spreadsheet – which also contained the details of more than 100 SAS soldiers and MI6 spies – was circulating online. Plans were made to add a total of 6,900 individuals to existing evacuation plans, taking place under the codename Operation Rubific. The super-injunction meant that media outlets subject to it, including The Telegraph, could not even mention the fact they had been gagged from reporting a matter of huge public interest. Parliamentary questions about the impact of the data breach and its resulting costs have so far shed limited light on how the MoD has sought to handle the multi-billion-pound fallout. Some £5mn has been spent over the last 11 months alone on flying Afghans from their home country to the UK, the MoD has confirmed. Lord Kempsell, the Tory peer, asked the Government how much it had spent on secretly moving Afghans caught up in the data breach to Britain. Lord Coaker, the Labour defence minister, said the average cost of flights per month has been £457,833.33. He said in his Parliamentary statement: 'The MoD has used both RAF and charter flights. Additionally, the International Organisation for Migration to resettle eligible Afghans has run charter flights. 'For reasons that are commercially and operationally sensitive, we cannot name the companies that organised the charter flights.'
