Officer broke Covid rules for affair - tribunal

Ch Supt Daniel Greenwood had been in charge of West Yorkshire Police's Covid response

A senior West Yorkshire Police officer who is said to have broken Covid rules to have sex with a junior officer has admitted gross misconduct.

Ch Supt Daniel Greenwood, who was a district commander in Bradford and had been in charge of the force's Covid response, resigned ahead of a misconduct hearing on Wednesday.

Mr Greenwood, 41, accepted the extramarital encounter, which took place in early 2021, had been against the "spirit" of lockdown rules but denied it was an "absolute breach".

The pair continued a relationship until later that year and exchanged sexual messages, even after the woman had dated a man who would later be convicted of drug offences, the West Yorkshire Police Authority said.

Mr Greenwood, who was deemed not fit to give evidence at the brief hearing in Wakefield, had “accepted responsibility” for his actions, his representative said.

Written evidence put forward by the authority told how the pair first met in March 2020, although he had earlier sent her advice via email on pursuing a career with the police.

Days later, Mr Greenwood was promoted and put in charge of the force’s response to the Covid pandemic.

The hearing took place at West Yorkshire Police HQ in Wakefield

It was said that from July of that year, the pair began to exchange explicit messages, photos and videos and then had “consensual clothed sexual activity” in the autumn.

Evidence submitted to the panel described how Mr Greenwood attended a flat in early 2021 and had sex with her, with the visit "in breach" of new Covid restrictions introduced on 6 January.

Mr Greenwood disputed the date of the encounter, claiming it had taken place before that set of rules had been introduced.

Representing the officer at the hearing, Police Federation representative Hugh Davies said Mr Greenwood’s actions had not been “an absolute breach” of Covid rules but was “obviously contrary to the spirit” of them.

Mitigating for Mr Greenwood, Mr Davies said the officer and his family had been under "an acute emotional strain" and that his wife remained "supportive" of him.

It was said that he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had an alcohol addiction.

"A highly promising police career has ended," he said.

"Colleagues perceived he had the potential to become a chief officer. That is all now gone, obviously."

The misconduct panel will decide on Thursday whether or not Mr Greenwood would have been dismissed had he still been employed by the force.

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