[2025] EWCA Crim 1285

The appellant was a serving police officer with the Greater Manchester Police at the time of these offences. He had joined the force in 2006.The first complaint, "X", had been a police officer since 2000. The appellant first met her in 2012, when they were both working on the Public Protection Investigation Unit based at Oldham. They were both of the rank of constable at that stage. Part of the background to count 1 is that when she and the appellant were both working in the same team or in the same office, the appellant's conversation with X would sometimes include inappropriate sexual innuendo.

The offence charged in count 2 took place in early 2015. X was asked to make a welfare check on a colleague who was on sick leave at home. The colleague lived in Rochdale. The appellant said that he had some enquiries to make in that area and suggested that he and X should travel to Rochdale together by car. X drove. Her habit when driving was to rest her left hand on the gear stick. During the journey that appellant's conversation became sexualised. He said that he was not "getting it" because his wife was pregnant. X felt uneasy but did not engage with the conversation. At some point the appellant took X's hand, lifted it from the gear stick and placed it on his crotch, over his trousers. She could feel that his penis was erect. She moved her hand straightaway and said, "Fuck off, Rick", and carried on driving to the colleague's house. She told the colleague what had just happened, whose advice was that she must report it.

X did tell others about what had happened at the time, but she was ambivalent about pursuing any formal complaint. In September 2016 she made it clear that she would not support any investigation into the appellant's misconduct. At his disciplinary interview in 2017 the appellant denied the allegation. Because X did not assist the investigation, there was no evidence to support an allegation of gross misconduct, so there was no formal misconduct hearing. However, at a conduct meeting, the appellant was given a verbal warning as to his future behaviour.

The appellant was subsequently transferred from the Public Protection Unit to work at Nexus House in Manchester – one of the Force's headquarters buildings. The second complainant, "Y", had begun her career with Greater Manchester Police in a civilian capacity in 2017, when she was aged 19. She had always wanted to be a police officer. In due course, after the offence in question, she achieved that ambition. She did well in her civilian supervisory role. By the time of the offence in count 4, when she was still aged only 21, she was leading a team of around five other civilian staff.

The appellant had been Y's supervisor and mentor. When she achieved promotion, she and the appellant were at the same level of seniority in the sense that they were both supervisors.

In November 2019, the appellant and Y went together to a leadership and management course in Sheffield run by the College of Policing. Because Y could not drive at the time, the appellant offered her a lift. The journey there was uneventful. However, at the conference the appellant and Y sat at the same table at the back of the room. After lunch, as the conference continued, the appellant complained to Y that he was bored. He then whispered to her that she looked "really nice", that he was turned on, and that he felt "horny". He told her that his penis was hard. He then took her hand by the wrist and pushed it onto his crotch so that her hand was on his penis through his trousers. She could feel that he had an erection. Initially she froze. Her hand was on his penis for five to ten seconds. She then moved it away. She felt unable to do or to say anything.

On the drive home, the appellant engaged in further sexualised conversation in the course of which he said, "I'm giving you a lift back. What's in it for me?" The sexual implication was clear.

Each of the complainants provided a victim personal statement. Both women had been badly affected psychologically and emotionally. X had since had difficulty accepting and dealing with trust in the workplace and with colleagues. She had undergone counselling and therapy. She said that she struggled now to trust male partners and was constantly second guessing their motives. She had come to dislike her career as a police officer and had been left with a sense of guilt and embarrassment that she had not pursued the complaint further at the time

Although Y had always wanted to be a police officer she said that she now felt unable to progress her career because her anxiety always takes over at the prospect. She has noticed a change in her own personality. She snaps at the smallest thing, and she finds herself re-living the incident in broken sleep at night. She feels sad all the time.

The appellant had no previous convictions. There were impressive character references from his wife and from close family friends to whom the behaviour in these offences seemed totally out of character.

The author of the pre-sentence report noted that the appellant still denied the offences, although he acknowledged that for some time his behaviour at work had been inappropriate. The view of the author was that the appellant had demonstrated no insight into the impact of his behaviour. As it was put in the report, despite the warning he had received in the past, he had not been able to censor his attitudes and actions.