A perverted former Kent police officer is facing a jail sentence after raping a vulnerable teenager for sex.

Vile Mark Lindow – known on social media as "British Bobby50" – was convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

A second man, Kurt Baker, 39, was also found guilty of three rapes with the same alleged victim.

Judge Julian Smith told them: "This was offending of the gravest kind and has had a profound impact on your victim.

"There was no remorse and no recognition of what you did."

He ordered reports to find out what danger they posed to youngsters in the future.

As Baker was led away he turned and screamed threats at Lindow who was then protected by a security guard in the dock. He was later escorted down to the cells.

The jury heard that between 2001 and 2015, Lindow was employed as a policeman and received training in community awareness, personal responsibility, respect for race and diversity and community and customer focus.

They convicted Lindow, of Grasmere Gardens, Folkestone, on the rape charges and distributing illegal pictures.

He admitted two charges of making indecent photographs and was acquitted of one charge.

The court was closed to the public twice while three brief videos of the vile rapes were shown to the jury who had been warned they were "extremely graphic".

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said the youngster had been the victim of child sexual exploitation at the hands of individuals who have not been identified.

'The teenager was blackmailed into performing sexual acts.'

"She was groomed into sending indecent photographs of herself to these individuals," he said.

"Following this, the teenager was blackmailed into performing sexual acts.

"She was required to download an application onto her mobile telephone through which the blackmailers could access her device, and they used this to further their blackmail," he revealed.

Baker, of Pankhurst Place, Gravesend, had denied the three rape allegations but was convicted by the jury.

They will be sentenced in November.

'As this case shows, the internet often remains an unsafe space for children, providing the tools for offenders like Lindow to groom and abuse vulnerable young people.'

An NSPCC spokesperson said: "Lindow and Baker's victim was put through horrors no person should be subjected to, let alone a young teenager.

"It is of the utmost importance that she now receives the support she needs to move on from their sickening abuse.

"As this case shows, the internet often remains an unsafe space for children, providing the tools for offenders like Lindow to groom and abuse vulnerable young people.

"The NSPCC will continue to lobby the government to ensure the proposed Online Safety Bill is not only robust and effective, but has the safety of children at its heart."

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.