Police officer says lunchtime sex visits a big mistake

South Wales Police headquarters

A South Wales Police officer has told a misconduct hearing he believed he was off duty when he went to a woman's house for sex during his lunch breaks.

The officer from the Swansea area cannot be named for legal reasons.

He faces five allegations - four of gross misconduct and one of misconduct.

He admits misconduct but not gross misconduct in the case of the four allegations relating to sex while he was on shift.

The misconduct allegation, which he denies, relates to a series of social calls to the woman and a family member when he was on duty.

The officer, in his 40s, told the hearing in Bridgend: "I totally messed up. I honestly believed at the time I was off duty."

The officer, who was based in Swansea, went to the woman's home in the city during his lunch hours in November and December 2018.

He told the hearing he would change out of his police top into a t-shirt but would keep his police issue trousers and boots on before visiting the woman known only as Miss A.

He also told the hearing he would leave his police issue radio behind and made the short drive to her home from the police station in his own car.

He said he spent a maximum of 45 minutes at her house during his meal breaks between 11:00 and 12:00.

"I put my hands up," he said.

"I made a mistake, I wasn't thinking right at the time. On reflection I made a big mistake.

"I wish I could go back five years and change things.

"It's not me. It was poor judgement."

'Distraction' from stress

Chair of the panel Oliver Thorne asked him: "If there had been an urgent call and you were in bed and you weren't able to hear that call, does that concern you?"

The officer replied: "It does now."

He told the hearing that at the time it did not cross his mind that he was on duty.

He said he had been told by more senior officers to "manage your own time" and that he often worked extra hours but was not able to claim back that time.

Jonathan Walters, for South Wales Police, said: "You lost all sense of judgement, you would have known that what you were doing was wrong."

The officer replied: "I didn't believe at the time I was doing something seriously wrong."

He said the visits were a "distraction" from stressful events in his life.

Mr Walters told the hearing: "The difficulty is that doing what he did he put himself in reality in a position where he was unable to function as a police officer."

"This was not just a social visit. He was going there for sex."

Christopher Rees KC representing the officer said: "This officer had a consensual relationship with Miss A.

"He had sex with her on four occasions. The context is the circumstances the officer found himself at the time.

"He was under extreme stress. He was a vulnerable person."

The hearing continues on Tuesday.