Suffolk police officer dismissed after having sex on duty

The head of Suffolk police said the actions by the officer, known in the hearing as Superintendent Y, was "among the most serious case of gross misconduct I have experienced".

On Thursday, the hearing heard Supt Y is married to another member of the police service and was senior in rank to all the women involved.

The allegations include that he first engaged in a sexual relationship with woman E in 2015,  woman F in 2017 and then had sex with woman D while on duty in July 2018.   

In February 2019 he lied to his superiors and said he was busy chairing a SUDIC meeting, which is an investigation into Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy and Childhood.

He was actually trying to arrange to have sex with another woman, A, which he did the following day at his parent’s house and at that time he was her line manager.

In May he had sex with woman A on duty and on police premises and again later while he was on call.

He pursued another woman, B, who was significantly younger and junior in rank to him, but she did not reciprocate, the hearing heard. 

In January 2021 he was interviewed about his affairs but only disclosed relationships with E and A.

He later messaged woman D and said, “have u been contacted or am I being paranoid?” then told her, “my lone plea is that you say nothing sexual occurred on police premises”.

“They have no CCTV. You saying we slept together is fine, it’s just that one thing. Again, I’m sorry to ask.”

Supt Y did not attend the hearing, but his Superintendent Association Representative said he admitted several of the allegations and accepted they amounted to gross misconduct, but disputed details of when he had been on duty.

Chief Constable Rachel Kearton said this was one of the worst cases she had seen (Image: Suffolk Police)

Chief Constable Rachel Kearton, who chaired the hearing, found all allegations proven bar two allegations relating to the super intendent having sex with woman D at certain times on duty were found unproven.

The hearing concluded with Supt Y dismissed without notice.

She said his actions had caused great harm to the police and added that “within the context of a career spanning three decades I regard this to be among the most serious cases of gross misconduct I have experienced.”

Deputy Chief Constable Rob Jones added: “When I heard of this case and the shocking conduct of this officer I was extremely shocked and appalled – there is simply and absolutely no place in this organisation for such unacceptable behaviour.

“We take allegations of any improper, illegal or dishonest behaviour extremely seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with complaints and allegations made against officers and staff.

DCC Rob Jones continued and said: “We are united in our shared determination to root out those who fall below the high standards we expect of each other, and that the public rightly expects and deserves. 

“Our officers and staff have a positive obligation to report matters which represent a breach of the Code of Ethics and there are ways that they can do this anonymously, confidentially and with appropriate support.

“Under our current internal ‘Right Culture’ programme we continue to strive to ensure correct standards and behaviour are the bedrock of our organisation through strong, supportive, and intrusive leadership where appropriate.

“This includes encouraging a healthy 'upstander not bystander' culture where people have confidence to speak and act on behalf their colleagues and challenge inappropriate behaviour.”