Ex-detective jailed over relationship with victim

Wasim Bashir had experience as a specialist in rape investigations

A former detective who began a sexual relationship with a woman whose case he was investigating has been jailed.

Wasim Bashir, 55, contacted the woman after she came forward to West Yorkshire Police to report serious sexual offences and domestic violence.

He was found guilty after a trial of one count of misconduct in a public office while working in the Kirklees safeguarding team.

Jailing him for two years and three months at Sheffield Crown Court, a judge said his behaviour towards the woman was "a gross breach of trust".

During his trial, the court heard Bashir and a female officer had been involved in taking the woman's statement when she first reported the sexual assault in 2020.

She said Bashir, from Bradford, had been in touch with her a few days later to ask if she was OK, and they had agreed to meet for a coffee.

The jury heard they met at the Xscape Centre in Castleford, before Bashir drove her to a quiet location where they had some sexual contact in his car.

The woman said she had sex with Bashir on two occasions after that, but their meetings stopped when she started another relationship.

She said they stayed in touch until she became aware that he had posted photographs of the two of them on an adult "swingers" website presenting them as a couple.

She said she contacted Bashir to protest about this, and he apologised and promised to delete it.

Jurors heard the woman decided to report the relationship to police at the end of 2021.

In a victim impact statement read during the sentencing hearing, the woman said the man she was "supposed to trust" manipulated her and used her for sexual gratification.

The statement read: "I should have been able to trust him due to the position he held within the police."

In mitigation, Jason Pitter KC said the breakdown of Bashir's marriage in 2017 had had a profound impact on him.

Bashir, who has since retired from the force, was cleared of another charge of misconduct in a public office alleging he contacted two other women inappropriately.

Passing sentence, Judge Charles Thomas told him: "You prioritised your own sexual gratification."

West Yorkshire Police said he would still face internal misconduct proceedings.

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