Detective accused over assault victim relationship

Wasim Bashir is accused of misconduct in a public office at a trial at Sheffield Crown Court

A detective accused of having a sexual relationship with a sex assault victim whose case he had helped investigate has "damaged trust in the police", prosecutors say.

Det Con Wasim Bashir was working for the Kirklees Safeguarding Team with West Yorkshire Police when he is alleged to have begun a relationship with the woman, after she had reported being attacked to police.

The 55-year-old, of Ploughmans Croft in Bradford, denies misconduct in a public office.

A judge at Sheffield Crown Court directed the jury find him not guilty on one count of misconduct in a public office, relating to two other women he contacted.

Mr Bashir is accused of having sex on two occasions with a 22-year-old woman who reported being the victim of a sexual assault to police in 2020.

Giving his closing speech, prosecutor Tony Dunne said the woman told Mr Bashir she felt safe with him because "you're supposed to feel safe" with a policeman.

He said by the time the woman reported the relationship over a year later, she had "lost all trust in the police", saying: "They all just want to have sex."

The prosecutor told jurors Mr Bashir's alleged behaviour would "damage trust in the police" and "cause all of you to be rightly concerned about whether people who reported sexual offences in the future would be properly and safely dealt with".

The 22-year-old woman told the court Mr Bashir and a female officer had been involved in taking her statement when she first reported the sexual assault.

She said Mr Bashir 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 Pontefract, before Mr Bashir drove her to a quiet location where they had some sexual contact in his car.

The woman said she had sex with Bashir at her grandmother's house on two occasions after that, but their meetings stopped when she started another relationship.

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

'Blurred the lines'

During the investigation into him, Mr Bashir's personal phone was also found to contain a screenshot of the Facebook profile of another woman who had reported a serious sexual assault to West Yorkshire Police in June 2021.

Mr Bashir has denied that any sexual relationship with the first woman took place, or that any of his actions were sexually motivated.

He told jurors that he had not been looking for a sexual partner since his marriage ended around 2017.

In his closing speech to jurors, Jason Pitter KC, defending, said Mr Bashir "would not throw away 31 years of good character" and that messages between him and the first woman showed her "seeking him out for advice".

Mr Pitter said: "The way he operates, for some of the women, may have blurred the lines, but that's not what he's accused of."

West Yorkshire Police said Mr Bashir had retired from the force since his arrest.

The trial continues.

Correction 20 August: This story has been amended to include the judge's direction that the jury should find Mr Bashir not guilty of one count of misconduct in public office, and to make clear Mr Bashir had retired from the force since his arrest. This follows a clarification issued by the Press Association news agency.

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