Former PC jailed for inappropriate relationships

Nicholas Fielding-Smith was jailed for 22 months at Reading Crown Court

A former police constable who had inappropriate relationships with two vulnerable women while on duty has been jailed for 22 months.

Nicholas Fielding-Smith, 42, who worked for Thames Valley Police in Berkshire, met one woman after she was assaulted and they had an intermittent sexual relationship over nine years.

He interviewed the other as a suspect in a harassment case and, after she was not prosecuted, contacted her by text message and they had an 11-month relationship.

Judge Alan Blake told Fielding-Smith, of Benson, Oxfordshire, he had been "selfish" and his offending had to result in a jail term.

Reading Crown Court heard the woman who had a sexual relationship with Fielding-Smith considered him to be her boyfriend.

But it was told she was was "crushed" by the father-of-two's frequent disappearances between 2011 and 2020.

His other victim was recently bereaved and had left a strict religious community when he initiated their relationship.

The court heard he turned up to their first meeting at a country pub in a police car, dressed in a police uniform, which outlined the power imbalance between them.

The woman said, in retrospect, she was "confused and flattered" by his attention.

Fielding-Smith admitted two counts of misconduct in a public office relating to each of the women.

He also pleaded guilty to another count of misusing the police computer system in 2019.

The prosecution said it would not pursue a third count of misconduct in a public office, which related to a third woman.

Fielding-Smith joined Thames Valley Police in March 2011 and remained employed by the force until his resignation in June.

Its deputy chief constable Ben Snuggs said: "I am very clear that Thames Valley Police will never tolerate behaviour like this, which plainly falls far below the high standards expected of them by the public.

"We will always thoroughly investigate allegations of criminality and misconduct, and will deal with people appropriately, whether serving and former, and put them before the courts where justified," he added.

"This is a key part of us maintaining the trust of our communities and demonstrates our commitment to public focused excellence."