A former Avon & Somerset police officer who tried to develop a relationship with a domestic abuse victim and then asked her to delete their texts to cover his tracks has been barred from policing. The constable, referred to as PC Z, and who cannot be named for legal reasons, met the woman through his duties but maintained contact without a policing purpose.
A misconduct panel ruled that he committed gross misconduct and would have been dismissed had he not already resigned. The officer, who joined the force in 2022, contacted the female 69 times on nine different dates, by text message and phone calls, between November 2022 and February 2023, with no obvious record of this contact on police records.
He first met the woman, Miss A, during an investigation he was involved in, although she was neither a victim or a suspect. Barrister Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the constabulary, said: “In November 2022, he met Miss A who told him there had been domestic incidents between her and her partner, so he was aware she was vulnerable.
“Between November 2022 and February 2023 he pursued an emotional relationship with Miss A. He exchanged numerous text messages, had phone conversations and visited her home without a policing purpose.
“He told Miss A that he should not be messaging her as he had met her through his police duties and asked her to delete the messages.” Mr Ley-Morgan said the response officer, who was based in Yeovil, was told in May 2023 by the force’s professional standards department that he was under investigation and was required to meet them in person to be issued with a notice.
But before he did, PC Z deleted the messages from his work mobile phone, the barrister said. He said: “He covered up or attempted to cover up his contact by asking her to delete the messages and deleting them from his phone.
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“He failed to act with self-control, failed to treat her with respect or courtesy and abused his position as a police officer. He behaved in a manner that undermines public confidence in the police service.”
Mr Ley-Morgan said PC Z, who did not attend the hearing at force headquarters in Portishead, made a full admission of the facts, the alleged breaches of standards of professional behaviour and gross misconduct. He said: “He knew what he was doing was wrong.
“He tried to get Miss A to delete messages. Then, when he realised he was under investigation, he deleted his messages.
“He was concealing it.” Mr Ley-Morgan said the constable pursued an emotional, although not sexual, relationship with the woman.
The officer’s Police Federation rep Andrew Coggins said PC Z, who joined the force in 2022, apologised for any distress caused to the woman and embarrassment to the force. Avon & Somerset Police said the ex-constable was granted anonymity by the panel chair because of a concern regarding the risk of harm to witnesses if the officer’s identity was made public.
Afterwards, head of the professional standards department Detective Superintendent Larisa Hunt said: “Following contact from a member of the public in March 2023, a full investigation was launched into the alleged actions of PC Z. This incident was initially referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct which deemed it appropriate for local investigation.
“When investigating PC Z’s phone records, several texts and calls to the woman were discovered and, in some instances, the contents of the texts were recovered. The records showed that PC Z had contacted her both on-duty and on his rest days and several texts had been deleted.
“He abused his position of power as a police officer, and his behaviour towards a vulnerable member of our society is unacceptable. We are grateful to the individual who had the confidence to report this to us and allow us to carry out a full investigation and ensure PC Z will never serve in policing again.
“We hope today’s outcome encourages other people to have trust in policing and the confidence to report inappropriate behaviour to us in the future.”
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