It was in public interest to hold West Midlands anti-corruption officer's misconduct hearing, says watchdog
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was in the public interest to bring a gross misconduct case against a former anti-corruption officer who had an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable woman.
A Warwickshire Police disciplinary panel found that former detective sergeant Paul Whitehurst breached police professional standards of behaviour relating to a woman he had met through work and that he would have been dismissed had he not resigned.
He resigned in May 2024 and after five IOPC investigations the force held a two-day hearing to ensure accountability in the public interest.
IOPC director Emily Barry said: “When police officers abuse their position for a sexual purpose, particularly in respect of vulnerable people, such behaviour represents a fundamental betrayal of the public’s trust and the values for which the police service stands.
“Such conduct amounts to serious corruption, and in DS Whitehurst’s case it is all the more reprehensible given he worked in the force’s anti-corruption unit, and before that in the professional standards department.
"He would have been acutely aware of the need to maintain professional boundaries with members of the public, and yet he chose to cross that boundary in full knowledge of the woman’s vulnerabilities from the outset.
“There is no place in policing for this kind of behaviour and quite rightly he has been held accountable for his actions.”
Other proven matters against the 54-year-old officer concerned improper use of his work mobile which contained 714 inappropriate images including of topless women, videos with explicit sexual content, and offensive jokes.
It was also found proven that he had deleted WhatsApp from the phone in order to frustrate the investigation into his activities.
An accelerated gross misconduct hearing in June 2024 concluded that had Whitehurst not already resigned he would have been dismissed for matters unrelated to the IOPC’s investigations.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Sartoris, of Warwickshire Police Professional Standards Department, said: “The harm caused by Whitehurst’s misconduct will have a lasting impact upon the victim and our thoughts remain with them.
“His actions represented a profound breach of public trust and professional standards, and such conduct is utterly incompatible with the oath taken by officers.”
Whitehurst was also barred from working for the police service. The force added that the outcome of the misconduct hearing on October 8 was subject to appeal.
