A PSNI officer has been dismissed after beginning a sexual relationship with a woman he met during the course of an assault investigation.
The officer contacted the woman on social media within a day of taking her statement and the pair subsequently began a sexual relationship, moved in together and had a child.
Police Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin described the officer's actions as a 'catalogue of corruption'.
"This behaviour can do serious damage to public trust and confidence in policing and it is vital that officers who choose to behave in this way know there will be serious consequences," she added.
Shockingly. Ms Durkin revealed that more than one-third (36 per cent) of serious cases under investigation by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) are related to abuse of position for sexual purposes.
'Three separate conflicts of interest'
The investigation found that a woman, referred to as Woman A, accused another woman (Woman B) of assault in late 2018.
An officer (Officer A) took Woman A's statement and asked his colleague (Officer B) to take Woman B's statement after she had made a counter allegation of assault against Woman A.
However, Officer B did not disclose that he had previously been in a relationship with Woman A and was still in contact with her.
Within 24 hours of taking Woman B's statement, Officer B had contacted her through Facebook and Snapchat and then began a sexual relationship with her.
A short time later they were living together and had a child before their relationship ended in early 2020.
Five weeks after the relationship began, Officer B typed up Woman B's handwritten statement, changed the date and brought it home for her to sign.
He also replaced his own name with that of Officer A, who refused to sign the statement and reported the matter.
It further transpired that a week before meeting Woman B, Officer B had been appointed to investigate an assault allegation involving Woman B's former boyfriend.
That investigation continued until March 2019, overlapping with the relationship between Officer B and Woman B.
"At this point, Police Officer B has not one, but three separate conflicts of interest in ongoing criminal investigations," said Ms Durkin.
"He has not disclosed his original relationship with Woman A.
"He has not disclosed his relationship with Woman B and also attempted to conceal it by falsifying an official record and trying to make a colleague complicit in his lie.
"And finally, he has not disclosed that he is investigating Woman B's ex-boyfriend."
In 2021, shortly after Officer B had been made aware that he was being investigated over his contact with vulnerable women, another woman he had previously been in a relationship with contacted police.
She had received a threatening, anonymous letter that included an intimate photograph of the woman and made threats that more photos would be sent to her family.
The only person she had shared the photo with was her former boyfriend, Officer B.
Two weeks before she received the letter, she had also received a phone notification that he had downloaded all the images she had shared with him.
When examined, Officer B's phone contained 51 images of the woman including intimate photos similar to the one she had received anonymously through the post.
While the PPS decided not to prosecute Officer B, a PSNI misconduct panel found that he had misconducted himself by breaching the PSNI Code of Ethics and he was dismissed.
'Simply intolerable'
"One case of this kind of abuse of position for sexual purposes is one case too many. However, these cases account for 36 per cent of the most serious cases under investigation currently by my Office," said Ms Durkan.
"This officer abused his position with a woman who was vulnerable, given she was not only accused of a crime but also alleged she was a victim of crime.
"He lied, he attempted to get a colleague to support his deceit and he sought to bully and intimidate a woman he had previously been in a relationship with.
"This was not a series of mistakes. It was calculated behaviour from the moment this police officer chose not to declare his first conflict of interest until he was reported, arrested, suspended and dismissed.
"This was a catalogue of corruption."
Chief Superintendent Stephen Murray, Head of the PSNI's Professional Standards Department, commented: "Police officers are entrusted with significant powers and responsibilities. That trust must never be abused for personal or sexual gain.
"Abuse of position for sexual purposes is wholly unacceptable, it is a serious abuse of authority and a breach of the trust placed in policing by the public.
"The behaviour found in this case was simply intolerable.
"It involved failures to declare conflicts of interest, dishonesty and conduct which undermined the integrity, impartiality and professionalism expected of every police officer."
He added: "This dismissal without notice reflects how serious the organisation takes these matters and reinforces our position that there is no place for corruption or abuse of position for sexual purposes in policing."
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