Investigation into the contact an officer had with a woman reporting a rape and whether this influenced their execution of a search warrant – Greater Manchester Police, October 2019

In 2012 a Greater Manchester Police officer had contact with a woman reporting a rape. The woman now states that she then had sexual contact with the officer on a small number of occasions and intermittent personal contact with the officer continued from that time onwards.

In 2019 the officer was part of a team involved in executing a search warrant at the home of the woman. It is alleged that whilst partially declaring his prior knowledge of the woman he misled colleagues about the history and nature of that relationship and improperly sought to influence their actions during the execution of the warrant.

During the investigation, investigators interviewed the officer, examined his mobile phone and obtained statements from several witnesses including his police colleagues and some of the vulnerable individuals he had been contacting.

We finalised our investigation in October 2020. We waited for all associated proceedings to be finalised before publishing our findings.

We concluded that the officer’s conduct in respect of the relationship with the woman could amount to Gross Misconduct and on the available evidence his behaviour could amount to criminal offences of Police Misconduct and/or Misconduct in Public Office (MIPO).

We concluded that the officer’s conduct in respect of improperly seeking to influence his colleague’s actions during the search warrant could amount to Gross Misconduct and on the available evidence his behaviour could amount to criminal offences of Police Misconduct, Misconduct in Public Office (MIPO) and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

On completion of our investigation, we referred it to the Crown Prosecution Service. Following a trial lasting nine days, in January 2022 the officer was found guilty of misconduct in public office and attempting to pervert the course of justice and was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment.

A gross misconduct hearing was held in October 2022. The officer admitted discreditable conduct amounting to gross misconduct. They were dismissed without notice and their name was added to the College of Policing’s barred list.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

We did not identify any organisational learning.