Ex-detective spared jail for exploiting women because he needs to care for son during virus lockdown
The defendant had previously admitted聽inappropriate contact with four vulnerable women.
Monday 6 April 2020 20:55, UK
A former police detective who exploited vulnerable women has been spared jail because he is caring for his son during the coronavirus lockdown.
Stuart Lunt, 36, from Appley Bridge, Wigan, avoided being locked up by a judge who accepted he had to look after the one-year-old child during the pandemic.
Lunt, a married father-of-two, was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years, and must also carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.
The former detective sergeant, a 17-year police veteran, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to misconduct in a public office.
He admitted having inappropriate contact with four vulnerable women who he met in the course of his duties with Lancashire Police as either complainants or witnesses.
After gaining their trust, Liverpool Crown Court was told, he exploited it to try to have sex with them, succeeding with one of his victims.
But in sparing him jail, the judge was persuaded by defence arguments that these were "exceptional circumstances" in "exceptional times".
Lawyer Laura Nash explained that Lunt's wife, a deputy manager at a pre-school nursery, was a designated key worker.
The couple were still living together with their children, aged six and one, but Lunt had been staying at home with the younger child, she said.
Close family members were unable to help as they were classed as vulnerable, Miss Nash said, while she asked the judge to consider the cost and "incredible difficulty" the Prison Service faced in managing Lunt through a custodial sentence through the coronavirus pandemic.
The defendant, who was based at Chorley and joined Lancashire Police in June 2015 after 12 years of service at Greater Manchester Police, resigned from the force last week.