Investigation into police contact with a vulnerable woman – Thames Valley Police, October 2021

In October 2021, a woman called Thames Valley Police to report she had been in a sexual relationship with a police officer. The woman was a suspect in a crime for which the officer in question was in charge. 

The woman alleged that the officer’s behaviour towards her had led to a deterioration in her mental health, leaving her depressed and at times suicidal. 

We received a conduct referral from Thames Valley Police and decided to independently investigate the contact between the woman and the officer. 

We investigated whether the officer took advantage of their position as a member of the police service and/or misused their authority or powers to pursue a sexual or improper emotional relationship with the woman. We also considered whether the officer assaulted the woman and deleted communications between them to try to obstruct the investigation. 

We examined whether the officer’s actions were in line with local force policies and national guidelines.

Our investigators interviewed the police officer, examined mobile phones and obtained statements from several witnesses. This included the woman the officer had been investigating.

At the conclusion of our investigation, we sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider criminal charges against the officer. 

The CPS authorised charges, and the officer received a 17 month prison sentence in January 2025 for misconduct in public office for abusing their position as a police officer for sexual purposes. A total of 40% of the sentence must be served before release on license. 

We also recommended that the officer should face a gross misconduct hearing. This recommendation was withdrawn as the officer was dismissed as a result of their conviction. They were placed on the police barred list, preventing them from becoming a police officer again. We decided it was not within the public interest to continue with gross misconduct proceedings. 

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 in this case.