A POLICE officer who described a probationary officer as ‘game as f***’ while he was carrying an illicit sexual relationship with a junior colleague quit before he faced a disciplinary hearing.

The disgraced officer, who also shared confidential information with his wife about a murder investigation, resigned after admitting four breaches of standards which amounted to gross misconduct.

The officer, whose name has not been released by Cleveland Police, shared a sexually explicit photograph of a probationary officer with a friend containing a number of lewd comments.

The 14-year veteran, who was 38 at the time of the sexual relationship, failed to declare the affair despite working in a supervisory role with the young officer, who said the sharing of the personal photograph had caused her ‘upset’ when she learned what had happened.

Stephen Morley, representing Cleveland Police, told the independent panel that the decision to anonymise the officer’s name was due to ongoing criminal proceedings involving the murder investigations.

He said: “He admitted he sent the photograph to a friend of his and said he had done it for reasons of ‘showing off’ and his ‘own ego’. He said he didn’t mean to cause her any distress, he was showing off about the relationship with this young officer.”

As well as the sexual image, the officer also shared a number of offensive messages with his friend including ‘Probationers are class’; ‘She’s on my shift; and ‘game as f***’.

The acting sergeant also admitted making a ‘stupid mistake’ by taking a photograph of a confidential document containing details and images connected to an ongoing murder investigation in early 2020.

Mr Morley told the hearing, at Cleveland Fire Brigade’s Hartlepool headquarters, how the former officer was spotted by a colleague taking the photograph who then reported him to a senior officer.

When confronted about his behaviour, he admitted taking the photograph and sending it to his wife before deleting the image.

The hearing was told that the officer had been given words of advice just months earlier for sharing confidential information from a training session he had attended.

He was given a criminal conviction and fined £400 at magistrates’ court in December 2020 when he admitted breach of confidentiality, Mr Morley added.

Details of allegations:

 

Allegation 1 - conducting a personal relationship with a junior officer when you were in a supervisory position had the potential to create actual or perceived conflicts of interest and/or ill-feeling. In such circumstances personal relationships should be formally disclosed in accordance with the best practice set out in the Cleveland Police and the College of Policing/National Police Chief Council's guidance on 'Appropriate personal relationships and behaviours in the workplace'.

Failure to make a suitable disclosure, in breach of best practice and guidance, breached the 'Duties and Responsibilities' and 'Orders and Instructions' standard of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

Allegation 2 - forwarding a personal image of a junior colleague, identifying them as a police officer and making crass, in appropriate and disrespectful comments was a breach of ‘Authority, Respect and Courtesy’ standard of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

Allegation 3 - taking a photograph of confidential police information and sending it a relative on 17th May 2020, breached the 'Confidentiality' standard of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

Allegation 4 - being convicted of committing a criminal offence on 17th December 2020, breached the 'Discreditable Conduct' standard of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

The hearing will take place on Monday at Scotswood House, Thornaby Place, Stockton.

Gerry Sydenham, panel chairman, said the officer would have been sacked for ‘each and every one’ of the breaches if he had still been serving with the force.

He said: “All of the allegations are proven individually and has amounted to gross misconduct individually – collectively, that simply makes the position worse.”

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