An ex-detective who sold sexual services to strangers has been found guilty of gross misconduct after a disciplinary panel said his actions were “akin to a criminal offence”. Former Detective Constable Nicholas Taylor and his partner advertised online to meet men for sex at their home in return for payment, a West Midlands Police misconduct hearing was told.
The officer’s off-duty activities were exposed in November 2020 by The Sun, which reported that he was offering threesomes at an hourly rate of £150 via an adult website. At the time Dc Taylor, who worked in CID at Bloxwich, Walsall, told the newspaper his clients at his property in Shropshire had ranged in age from 21 to 70.
Opening the facts on behalf of West Midlands Police on Wednesday, the force’s barrister John Goss said the matter had not been investigated as “keeping or assisting in the management of a brothel”. He said it had been decided it would not have been proportionate.
Alleging Taylor had brought the police service into disrepute and misconducted himself by failing to declare a business interest, Mr Goss told the hearing in Birmingham: “This came to light as a result of an undercover investigation by the press. The facts in terms of what actually was being done are not disputed.
“Although not investigated as a crime because a decision was taken that it would not be proportionate, it is conduct which does engage the criminal law. Where there is more than one person selling sexual services from a premises it’s a matter of fact… that those premises are likely to be a brothel.
“In and of itself, it (the conduct) brings discredit on the police service.”
Taylor, who is believed to be aged in his early 40s, did not attend his disciplinary hearing but submitted a document describing the allegations as “part of his private life”. He also claimed what he had done was not a business interest and that readers’ comments left below The Sun’s article had been largely supportive, with only a small percentage being negative.
The ex-detective also argued his activities were “an expression of his sexual identity” and that standards change over time – with what was unacceptable in the 1970s or 1980s now acceptable. He further submitted the force had taken an over-cautious and “prudish” approach to his behaviour.
But Mr Goss told the hearing: “He (Taylor) accepted that he and his partner had met other consenting adults and they had received payment for this. We say that the exchange of money for services is quite obviously a business interest.
“It is almost the classic definition of a business interest. Even if it is right that Dc Taylor simply never thought about it that way, he ought to have.
“If he had turned his mind to it for a moment, as he should have done, it would have been blindingly obvious that it was going to be an issue. In this case the behaviour involved advertising to the general public with pictures of himself that were traceable to who he was.
"It involved inviting people to his home address who he did not know. We say it goes without saying that accepting pay from members of the public in exchange for sexual services is conduct which is capable of bringing the police into disrepute.”
The hearing was told Taylor, who had 19 years of police service, was “already in the last chance saloon” because he had previously received a final written warning for neglect of duties. This related to a witness intimidation case in which statements were shredded rather than uploaded to a police system.
Misconduct panel chairman Harry Ireland was told Taylor had already submitted his resignation, with it becoming effective a day before the hearing. Finding Taylor guilty of gross misconduct, Mr Ireland said: “This was a business and therefore fell into the West Midlands Police business interest policy.
"Dc Taylor should have sought permission from the force to undertake his activities.” The misconduct was a deliberate act and not a simple oversight, Mr Ireland said, adding that it was “akin to a criminal offence” and “acting as a prostitute”.
The panel chairman added: “This is not, as Dc Taylor claims, a moral judgment on his sexual preferences. We find the conduct was a breach of the standards of professional behaviour.
“As far as we could see there was a criminal offence involved, albeit that the appropriate authority chose not to pursue such.” The misconduct was a significant deviation from instructions, Mr Ireland said, and would have led to the officer’s dismissal had he not already resigned.
In a statement after the hearing, West Midlands Police said Dc Taylor will now be placed on a barred list, preventing him from working in policing.
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