Officer dismissed after ‘catalogue of corruption’ over sexual relationship with vulnerable woman

A PSNI OFFICER has been dismissed after an investigation found a “catalogue of corruption” over a sexual relationship he had with a vulnerable woman.

A Police Ombudsman investigation found he had initiated a sexual relationship with a woman he met in the course of his duties, failed to disclose multiple conflicts of interest, intimidated a former partner, attempted to falsify evidence and asked a colleague to lie.

Police Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin described the behaviour as a “catalogue of corruption” which had “the potential to do serious damage to public trust and confidence in policing”.

Officer B

The case stemmed from an assault allegation made to the PSNI towards the end of 2018 by one woman, referred to as Woman A, against another, Woman B.

Woman B in turn made a counter assault allegation against Woman A.

The PSNI officer responsible for investigating the allegations, Officer A, asked a colleague, Officer B, to take a statement from Woman B, which he duly did.

However, Officer B did not disclose that he had been in a sexual relationship with Woman A in 2016 and was still in contact with her socially.

Within 24 hours of meeting Woman B to take her statement, Officer B had contacted her through Facebook and Snapchat and then began a sexual relationship with her.

A short time later, they were living together and had a child before their relationship ended in early 2020.

Durkin said that “every action he took from the point he chose not to disclose his original conflict of interest with Woman A compounded his failure”.

She said it was “appalling that within 24 hours of meeting Woman B, he had taken advantage of his position as a police officer to contact her and to form an inappropriate relationship with her”.

Meanwhile, a further conflict of interest emerged when Police Ombudsman investigators found that a week prior to meeting with Woman B to take her statement, Officer B had been appointed as the investigating officer for an assault allegation involving Woman B’s former boyfriend.

That investigation continued until March 2019, overlapping with the relationship between Officer B and Woman B. 

Although he was aware the man was a former boyfriend, at no time did Officer B disclose, as required, that he was living with Woman B, in an intimate relationship with her and that she was expecting his child.

Threatening letter

The Police Ombudsman investigation extended further still to an incident in 2021 when another woman who had been in a relationship with Officer B reported to police that she had received a threatening, anonymous letter.

The letter was sent a short time after Officer B had been made aware that he was being investigated for his contact with vulnerable women.

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It included an intimate photograph of the woman and also made threats that more photos would be sent to her family.

The only person she had shared the photo with was her former boyfriend, Officer B.

Two weeks before she received the letter, she had also received a phone notification that he had downloaded all of the images she had shared with him. 

When examined, the officer’s phone contained 51 images of the woman, including intimate photos similar to the one she had received anonymously through the post.

Durkin described Officer B as someone who “abused his position for sexual purposes, one of the most serious forms of police corruption”.

She noted that such cases “account for 36% of the most serious cases under investigation currently by my Office”. 

“This officer abused his position with a woman who was vulnerable, given she was not only accused of a crime but also alleged she was a victim of crime. He lied, he attempted to get a colleague to support his deceit and he sought to bully and intimidate a woman he had previously been in a relationship with.

Durkin said Officer’s B actions were not a “series of mistakes” but rather was “calculated behaviour” and a “catalogue of corruption”.

Officer B was arrested by Police Ombudsman investigators as part of the investigation.

During the associated search operation, a USB memory stick containing the entire contents of a missing person’s laptop was found.

As a result of a separate Police Ombudsman investigation into this matter, Officer B was found to have committed gross misconduct and received a final written warning.

‘Unacceptable’

Chief Superintendent Stephen Murray, head of the PSNI’s professional standards department, said the “serious misconduct is unacceptable and clearly falls far below the standards the public rightly expects”.

He added that officers are “entrusted with significant powers and responsibilities” and that this “trust must never be abused for personal or sexual gain”.

Murray said the behaviour found in this case “was simply intolerable” and that when concerns were identified through an internal investigation, the PSNI Chief Constable referred this matter to the Police Ombudsman for an independent investigation.

He acknowledged that incidents like these can “damage public confidence in policing” but added that the PSNI has “significantly strengthened our processes around conflicts of interests”.

Murray added that the “overwhelming majority of officers and staff serve communities across Northern Ireland with integrity, professionalism and care” and that they are “also appalled when this type of behaviour is found to have occurred”.

“This dismissal without notice reflects how serious the organisation takes these matters,” said Murray, “and reinforces our position that there is no place for corruption or abuse of position for sexual purposes in policing.”