PSNI constable dismissed over sexual abuse of position and 'catalogue of corruption'
A Northern Ireland police officer has been sacked after an inquiry found he pursued sexual relationships with women he met on duty. The Police Ombudsman called his conduct a "catalogue of corruption".
PSNI constable dismissed after ombudsman exposes two-year corruption inquiry
A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) constable has been dismissed without notice following an investigation that uncovered what the Police Ombudsman described as a "catalogue of corruption", Google News UK — Crime (en) reports, citing BBC coverage of the case.
Police Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin said the officer's behaviour had "the potential to do serious damage to public trust and confidence in policing". The PSNI said it was "unacceptable and clearly falls far below the standards the public rightly expects at all times from police officers and staff".
How the case began
The inquiry traced back to 2018, when a woman — referred to in the investigation as Woman A — made an assault allegation to police against another woman, Woman B. Woman B then made a counter-allegation. The officer assigned to the original investigation, Police Officer A, asked a colleague — Police Officer B — to take a statement from Woman B.
Police Officer B did not disclose that he had previously been in a sexual relationship with Woman A in 2016 and remained in social contact with her. Within 24 hours of meeting Woman B to collect her statement, he had contacted her via Facebook and Snapchat and subsequently began a sexual relationship with her. The pair later moved in together and had a child before the relationship ended in early 2020.
Intimidation and falsified evidence
The investigation extended to a further incident in 2021. A woman who had previously been in a relationship with Police Officer B reported receiving a threatening anonymous letter, sent shortly after the officer was notified that he was under investigation for his conduct towards vulnerable women.
The letter contained an intimate photograph of the woman and threatened to send further images to her family. She had shared that photograph with only one person: Police Officer B. Two weeks before receiving the letter, she had also received a phone notification indicating he had downloaded all images she had shared with him.
When investigators examined the officer's phone, it was found to contain 51 images of the woman, including intimate photographs consistent with the one she had received anonymously by post.
Durkin said the officer, described as a constable "of some experience", had faced allegations representing "one of the most serious types of police corruption". The ombudsman's office spent almost two years working through what Durkin called a "very complex, multi-stranded investigation". A file was subsequently submitted to the Public Prosecution Service, which issued a no-prosecution decision in October 2024.
Beyond the sexual conduct, investigators found that Police Officer B had failed to declare multiple conflicts of interest, attempted to falsify evidence, intimidated a former partner, and asked a colleague to lie.
Misconduct hearing and dismissal
The PSNI held a misconduct hearing in April. The panel found that the officer had breached the PSNI Code of Ethics and dismissed him without notice. Police Officer B became the seventh officer to be dismissed as a result of Police Ombudsman investigations into abuse of position for sexual purposes (APSP) since 2020. A further officer in a related matter received a written final warning.
Abuse of position for sexual purposes currently accounts for 36% of the most serious cases under active investigation by the Police Ombudsman's Office.
Calls for legislative reform
Durkin said she hoped the new Public Office (Accountability) Bill, currently passing through parliament, would create a specific misconduct in public office offence. She also welcomed the development of the Justice Bill making its way through the Northern Ireland Assembly.
That legislation, she said, would "fast track some of those cases so that we would no longer have to wait until the conclusion of a decision to prosecute". Where clear evidence of misconduct exists, police would be able to decide on dismissal on the basis of an evidence-led ombudsman investigation rather than waiting for a prosecution outcome.
"Where you have predatory police officers, it's important that victims or complainants can be assured of evidence-led, impartial and independent investigation," Durkin said.
PSNI response
Chief Superintendent Stephen Murray, Head of the PSNI's Professional Standards Department, said the misconduct identified was "simply intolerable".
"Police officers are entrusted with significant powers and responsibilities. That trust must never be abused for personal or sexual gain," Murray said. "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."
Murray said the dismissal without notice reflected how seriously the organisation treated such matters "and reinforces our position that there is no place for corruption or abuse of position for sexual purposes in policing".
Durkin echoed that message directly: "This should send out a clear message to any other officers who may be involved in that type of behaviour that the consequences are that you will be dismissed."
Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)