Police officer sacked after starting sexual relationship with woman

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer has been dismissed after an investigation found he initiated a sexual relationship with a woman he met in the course of his duties.

A Police Ombudsman inquiry also found he failed to disclose multiple conflicts of interest, intimidated a former partner, attempted to falsify evidence and asked a colleague to lie.

Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin said the behaviour was a "catalogue of corruption" which had "the potential to do serious damage to public trust and confidence in policing".

The PSNI said the officer's behaviour was "unacceptable and clearly falls far below the standards the public rightly expects at all times from police officers and staff".

Durkin said the officer, known in the investigation as Police Officer B, was a constable "of some experience" and that the allegations he faced was "one of the most serious types of police corruption".

She added that there was "no place for him, or any other officer, in the PSNI who misconducts himself in this way".

"This should send out a clear message to any other officers who may be involved in that type of behaviour that the consequences are that you will be dismissed."

Abuse of position for sexual purposes (APSP) cases currently account for 36% of the most serious cases currently under investigation by the Police Ombudsman's Office.

Investigators at the Police Ombudsman's office spent almost two years working through, what Durkin described as a "very complex, multi-stranded investigation".

Following the completion of the Police Ombudsman's investigation, a file was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service who issued a no prosecution decision in October 2024.

The case stemmed from an assault allegation made to the police by one woman, Woman A, against another, Woman B, who then made a counter assault allegation, in 2018.

The police officer responsible for investigating the incident, Police Officer A, asked a colleague, Police Officer B, to take a statement from Woman B.

Police 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, he 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.

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

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

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, Police Officer B.

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

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

The PSNI held a misconduct hearing in April and the officer was dismissed without notice.

The panel found that the officer had misconducted himself by breaching the PSNI Code of Ethics.

Police Officer B was the seventh officer to be dismissed as a result of Police Ombudsman investigations in APSP since 2020.

A further police officer received a written final warning.

Durkin hopes that the new Public Office (Accountability) Bill that is going through parliament will create a specific misconduct in public office offence.

She also welcomed the development of the Justice Bill that is making its way through the Northern Ireland Assembly.

"[This will] fast track some of those cases so that we would no longer have to wait until the conclusion of a decision to prosecute," she said.

This way, she explained, where there is "clear evidence of misconduct", the police can decide whether they dismiss an officer based on the evidence-led ombudsman investigation.

"Where you have predatory police officers, it's important that victims or complainants... can be assured of evidence led, impartial and independent investigation".

Chief Superintendent Stephen Murray, Head of the PSNI's professional standards department, said the serious misconduct identified in this case was "unacceptable and clearly falls far below the standards the public rightly expects, at all times, from police officers and staff".

"Police officers are entrusted with significant powers and responsibilities. That trust must never be abused for personal or sexual gain.

"Abuse of position for sexual purposes is wholly unacceptable, it is a serious abuse of authority and a breach of the trust placed in policing by the public.

"The behaviour found in this case was simply intolerable. It involved failures to declare conflicts of interest, dishonesty and conduct which undermined the integrity, impartiality and professionalism expected of every police officer."

The dismissal without notice, he added, reflected how serious the organisation took these matters "and reinforces our position that there is no place for corruption or abuse of position for sexual purposes in policing".