Cop who covered up safeguarding mistake sacked

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said PC Coffey betrayed the trust placed in the police by members of the public

A police officer who failed to safeguard a woman and tried to cover up his mistake has been sacked.

Robert Coffey, a former PC with Cleveland Police, was dismissed without notice after an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

A misconduct hearing heard he had failed to properly investigate a fight between a man and a woman, and tried to cover up his mistake later when she was the victim of a domestic assault.

IOPC regional director Emily Barry said: "His dishonesty betrayed the trust placed in the police by members of the public and risked undermining the hard work of his colleagues."

The IOPC said Mr Coffey had been on duty in Hartlepool town centre on the evening of 23 March 2019, when a member of the public reported seeing a couple fighting.

He spoke to the pair, who both appeared to have suffered injuries, and took the woman home.

However, the IOPC said he had failed to carry out a "proper investigation" or report the incident to colleagues.

Misleading record

In the early hours of the following morning, police were called to the woman’s home, where she was found with injuries to her face.

She was taken to hospital and the man she had been with the evening before was arrested for assault.

After this call, PC Coffey made an entry on the force's system about the previous night's incident, but the IOPC said that entry was misleading.

The case was also referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Mr Coffey was charged with corrupt or improper exercise of police powers.

He denied the charges and the CPS withdrew its prosecution against him in June 2023.

Det Ch Insp Pete Littlewood, head of Cleveland Police’s counter corruption and vetting unit, said: "Coffey not only let the force down, but he let down a vulnerable woman who needed our help and protection - and that is much worse."