Essex Police officer guilty of misconduct over witness relationship

PC Georgie Bean, based at Basildon police station, was suspended from his duties in January 2021

A serving police officer who pursued a sexual relationship with a "key witness" has been found guilty of misconduct in public office.

Essex Police PC Georgie Bean, based in Basildon, swapped numbers with the woman after she gave him a statement.

The witness sent Bean, 32, "explicit" images of herself and they engaged in "snogging, kissing" and "heavy petting", Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Bean was ordered to carry out 50 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £1,200.

The defendant, of Fitzstephen Road, Dagenham, east London, was suspended from policing in January 2021 and has remained suspended since.

Bean was found guilty of misconduct in public office following the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court

The woman, who had witnessed a racially aggravated assault in September 2020, threatened to withdraw her statement after the relationship between herself and Bean broke down.

During the trial, Bean's boss, Sgt Harry Shelton, said the officer confessed what had happened between the two and said this was why the "key witness" was no longer cooperative.

"My initial response was words to the effect of 'you're an idiot' - there may have been an expletive but I was shocked, surprised," Mr Shelton said.

"Without sounding silly, we don't have relationships with witnesses in live cases - it is drilled into us at training school."

Mr Shelton said Bean disclosed that the witness had also sent him explicit images of herself.

'Inappropriate relationship'

The jury found Bean guilty of committing misconduct in public office between November and December 2020.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct recommended the force hold a disciplinary hearing.

The complaints watchdog's regional director, Charmaine Arbouin, said: "PC Bean was found to have formed an inappropriate relationship with a woman, who was the sole independent witness to an assault that he was in charge of investigating.

"He clearly failed to maintain appropriate and professional boundaries between himself and the woman and his actions amounted to a criminal offence."

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