Officer had affair with 'vulnerable' colleague

The officer also sent abusive and offensive messages about other colleagues, the panel ruled

A police constable started an "inappropriate" affair with a vulnerable colleague, a misconduct hearing found.

The Leicestershire officer was the woman's superior at the time of the relationship and knew she was having marital difficulties, a report said.

The sexual relationship between the two was consensual but involved an "imbalance of power" because of his senior role, a panel heard.

The panel said his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and that he would have been sacked, had he not already quit the force.

The officer, referred to in the panel's report as Person X, was aware the woman, known as Person A, was in a controlling marriage, had seen her distressed at work and knew work was an escape for her, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The panel found he failed to declare the relationship to his superiors, and his "inappropriate" behaviour had included sexual activity when they were out in the community for a job.

The panel said colleagues "would have found this behaviour in the workplace to have been deplorable".

The panel ruled Person X "attempted to conceal the true nature of their relationship to try to protect his marriage", and was "deliberately misleading, deceitful, and dishonest".

'Blatant disregard'

The panel further considered allegations that Person X had failed to follow the force's domestic abuse policy by filling out a risk assessment when Person A told him her husband had fitted a tracking device to her car.

He was also accused of liking "sexualised" images on X, formerly known as Twitter, including posts that the panel said were distasteful and objectified women.

The panel found the officer had shown "blatant disregard for the potential impact of his conduct" and concluded his actions were "extremely damaging" to public confidence in policing.

He also sent "abusive" and "offensive" messages about other colleagues, the panel ruled.

Det Supt Alison Tompkins, head of the force's professional standards department, said: "The behaviour demonstrated by the former officer fell well below the high professional standards of officers which are expected."