Greater Manchester Police officer sentenced for misconduct in public office

A Greater Manchester Police officer has been sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of misconduct in public office, following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Police Constable Julian Maynard, who was based in Oldham, admitted two charges at a hearing at Preston Crown Court in December 2021. At Preston Crown Court today (Friday) a judge sentenced him to eight months’ imprisonment.

After meeting two women who reported incidents to the police, he went on to abuse his position as a police officer by forming inappropriate relationships with them. He was found to have had excessive phone contact with the women during the course of his duties between November 2018 and April 2020.

The IOPC carried out an investigation following a referral from Greater Manchester Police in May 2020. At the end of our investigation, we referred a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service in July 2021.

Our investigation followed a proactive review undertaken by the force of the most frequently called numbers.

Mobile phone data showed that PC Maynard made more than 1,000 outgoing communications, consisting of texts and phone calls, to one woman he met during the course of his duties in a 13-month billing period.

After concerns were flagged with the first woman, a further review of PC Maynard’s work phone was undertaken which identified a high volume of contact with a second female, between Nov 2019- April 2020, with a total of more than 1,900 outgoing communications being made.

This occurred after the GMP officer attended a domestic violence incident in July 2019. Contact was initiated three months after the investigation was closed and messages were sometimes of a sexual nature.

IOPC Regional Director Amanda Rowe said: “Cases where officers abuse their position for sexual purposes are among the most serious examples of corruption that we investigate and have real potential to impact on public confidence in the police.

“The public has a right to expect police officers to uphold the highest standards of integrity and professionalism, and that those who fail to do so will be investigated and dealt with robustly.

“I hope this outcome sends a clear message to any officer who misconduct themselves in such a way, that they face serious consequences and will be held to account.”

We also found the officer may have breached police professional standards relating to honesty and integrity, authority, respect and courtesy, duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct.

Update (2 July 2022): At a speical misconduct hearing today, the former PC Maynard was judged to have breached the standards of professional behaviour including discreditable conduct, authrority, respect and courtesy, orders and instructions and duties and responsibilities which amounted to gross misconduct. He was placed on The College of Policing's barred list.