Merseyside PC is jailed for offering to pick up vulnerable girl, 17, for sex during welfare check

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026.

Carl Edwards, a Merseyside Police constable, spent 90 minutes alone with a high-risk missing teenager during a welfare check, showed her pictures of his car, made sexual comments, attempted to touch her, and proposed collecting her once his shift ended. The 37-year-old, of Woodchurch, Wirral, was jailed for 15 months at Chester Crown Court after being convicted of three counts of misconduct in a public office and two data protection offences. An IOPC investigation found his body-worn camera was switched off throughout the encounter. The IOPC's Amanda Rowe described the offending as a 'deliberate and prolonged pattern of criminal behaviour' that only escalated over time.

Edwards had also propositioned two sex workers in Liverpool's Kensington area, one of whom had approached him to report an assault.

The IOPC investigation began in April 2024 after reports that an 'officer called Carl' regularly visited a Liverpool area where sex workers were known to gather.

Separately, at Northampton Crown Court, a 15-year-old boy has entered not guilty pleas to 22 sexual offences, including rape, against eight girls aged between 10 and 15.