In this week’s blog I am presenting a case report ‘from the archives’, as although it goes back to events that occurred a decade ago, I think it is a timely reminder of an age- old problem that also remains a very modern threat: the utterly shameless and, indeed, deeply sinister, exploitation of ‘opportunity’ and abuse of power by predatory Police Officers – in this case, an officer who was apparently willing to step over a man’s grave in an attempt to get a grieving widow into bed with him.
As demonstrated here, these types of officers will use a variety of methods to attempt to ‘snare’ their victims, including grooming by flattery and attempting to overawe and impress with their ‘power’, as well as exploiting their access to sensitive personal data about the person and access to Police computer systems. It is hard to imagine a more despicable breach of trust, one which deliberately or recklessly widens wounds caused by crime or tragedy, in the process of emotional exploitation, and continued vigilance against such predatory officers is absolutely required.
In the Summer of 2014, my client Collette’s husband tragically killed himself, widowing her and depriving their young son of a father.
In the aftermath of these events, PC Smith of Collette’s local Police Force, was allocated to act as Collette’s Family Liaison Officer (FLO).
PC Smith attended at Collette’s home where he met with my client and various family members, and thereafter began to communicate with Collette by way of phone and text, as well as visiting her home again on a number of occasions.
These communications were initially entirely professional, concerning the return of Collette’s late husband’s body, as well as the funeral arrangements.
Despicably, PC Smith then attempted to use the tragedy for his own sexual gratification. Just a few weeks after having first met her, PC Smith again visited Collette’s home address and as he was leaving, the Officer removed his body armour vest and hugged Collette – a hug to which she did not consent.
Thereafter, each further time that he visited Collette, ostensibly for Policing duties, PC Smith would give Collette a hug and a kiss on the cheek – actions which she had not encouraged and to which she likewise did not consent.
In a further disturbing escalation of events, later that month PC Smith attended at my client’s house and took her for a drive in his Police vehicle, purportedly to help her overcome an anxiety about driving which she had developed following her husband’s death.
The drive lasted for approximately 45 minutes. During the drive, whilst on a dual carriageway, PC Smith drove at approximately 100mph for 6 minutes with Police sirens blaring and blue lights flashing, for no Policing purpose. Collette believed that PC Smith was ‘showing off’ to her and was deeply traumatised and upset, believing that the Officer had deliberately put her life at risk in doing this.
Unfortunately, my client could not escape from PC Smith’ attentions, as he remained her designated Family Liaison Officer and therefore had legitimate excuses to continue contacting her, including taking a statement about events leading up to her husband’s tragic death.
As is often the case in incidents of grooming/exploitation by Police Officers, PC Smith then started to use his own personal mobile phone to contact Collette as well as his official work phone.
The manner in which he communicated with Collette now became more personal in content and nature and started to include messages which were not merely ‘friendly’ but overtly ‘flirty’ and included the following –
• “…how’s my star pupil this morning?…”
• “….I’m looking forward to seeing your smiley face :)…”
• “…remember when I first saw you in make-up and commented, you went rosy red with a big smile…”
• In response to a message from Collette that she could handle unwanted admirers, PC Smith replied “I’ll watch myself then ;)”.
• “…looking forward to seeing tomoz trouble is my time flies with you, I could spend hours chatting…. ;)”
Yet further, PC Smith attempted to ‘friend’ Collette on Facebook.
The level of communications from PC Smith were now as high as 30 messages a day, leading Collette to feel increasingly alarmed and ‘suffocated’ by him.
PC Smith continued to attempt to insinuate himself into Collette’s life and his behaviour became increasingly like that of a stalker – but in this case, a stalker in Police uniform.
On one occasion, PC Smith drove Collette and her young son to a local fishing spot and when it began to rain and PC Smith and Collette sheltered under an umbrella, he attempted to kiss Collette, from which she pulled away.
Whilst most stalkers do not have access to the Police’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition system (ANPR), allowing them to track the location of individual motor vehicles, PC Smith did and apparently exploited it in his pursuit of Collette.
On another occasion, Collette was driving along the motorway with her son when she became aware of a marked Police vehicle following her which then overtook her, activating its lights and forcing her to pull over onto the hard shoulder.
The Officer behind the wheel of the ‘emergency’ vehicle was none other than PC Smith himself, who then approached Collette with the almost unbelievable comment “Good morning, I just wanted to say hello”.
PC Smith directed Collette to follow him to the next services for a coffee, which Collette did as she felt she had no alternative, although she was feeling deeply shocked and embarrassed.
Such is the power differential between Police Officers and members of the public – particularly those made vulnerable by crime or bereavement – which predatory Officers, such as PC Smith, show no hesitation in seeking to exploit.
PC Smith then repeated his outrageous behaviour on a further occasion when Collette was travelling on the motorway. A marked Police vehicle appeared in front of her illuminating a ‘Follow me’ sign. Understandably, Collette felt obliged to do so, whilst also feeling scared and intimidated.
She followed the Police vehicle to a nearby McDonalds Restaurant and, inevitably, discovered that once more PC Smith was behind the wheel of that vehicle.
PC Smith suggested that Collette had been speeding, but my client strongly believed that this was no more than an excuse for him to stop her for a ‘chat’. PC Smith purchased food for himself and a drink for Collette and the friend with whom she had been travelling in the car and even ignored initial radio request for assistance, telling his HQ that he was on his ‘tea break’.
Further disturbing incidents occurred over the weeks that followed. The first was when Collette was attending a local Festival with friends and family. Whilst there, Collette received a text message from PC Smith saying that she looked nice and describing the clothes she was wearing, specifically a stripy scarf. My client could not see PC Smith but realised that he must be present in the crowd, observing her. She felt scared and left early.
The second such incident, happened a few weeks later, when Collette attended a Vintage Car show, only to be unexpectedly approached by PC Smith who was also ‘coincidentally’ attending.
This is the way in which a stalker can render the ordinary world into a frightening trap, leaving the person who is his target with no safe refuge, constantly fearing that he is going to appear, and therefore unable to ever fully relax. The stalker, insidiously, becomes a lurking lodger in the person’s home, there in her fears even when she can’t see him, and each time she goes out or hears a knock on the door it is in apprehension of his return. Pleasure drains from the world as a result; and how much more terrible that this be inflicted on a recently widowed woman, and by a person deliberately, almost methodically, exploiting powers and privileges of a Police Officer.
Matters finally came to a head in the Autumn of 2014, when PC Smith messaged Collette whilst he was away on holiday with his wife. His message stated that his hotel and room views were nice, and it was signed off with no fewer than 22 ‘x’ symbols, to indicate ‘kisses’. Collette was now even more frightened by PC Smith’s behaviour – he seemed to believe that he was in a romantic/ sexual relationship with her.
Accordingly, Collette reported PC Smith’s conduct to a Police Sergeant who had been a friend of her late husband. The Sergeant agreed that PC Smith’s conduct was wholly unprofessional and inappropriate, and that he would report matters to their Professional Standards Department (PSD).
Such was Collette’s fear of PC Smith that she now felt compelled to move house and as PSD began their investigation into the rogue officer’s conduct, they arranged for extra security measures to Collette’s home (including a padlock on the side gate and alarms on every window) as well as placing a ‘marker’ on her home address to ensure priority response in the event of any incident.
Within a few days, PC Smith was issued with a Police Information Notice (PIN) for harassment of Collette, and shortly afterwards was suspended from duty.
Subsequently, misconduct proceedings were brought against PC Smith, and he was dismissed from the Police service.
That was far from the end of the matter for Collette, of course. She was left with considerable mental anxiety by reason of the Officer’s predatory behaviour towards her. She found herself feeling nervous around men in the workplace, particularly those in a position of authority over her. Even a welcomed hug could bring back flashbacks of PC Smith pressing himself upon her. Merely seeing the Police on a TV screen was uncomfortable for her, and if she heard emergency sirens ‘in the real world’ she would become heightened and find herself trying to figure out if they were from an ambulance or a Police car. She feared being ‘followed’. Collette came to feel that PC Smith had prevented her from properly grieving and coming to terms with her husband’s death – precisely the opposite of what his role as her Family Liaison Officer was supposed to achieve.
I brought civil proceedings on behalf of Collette, against the Force, and secured their admission of liability for PC Smith’s acts of harassment against my client, including his abuse of Police data systems in order to facilitate that abuse. I was able to arrange psychotherapy for Collette to try to help her better cope with the impact of what the disgraced Officer had done to her, and ultimately a financial settlement of £30,000 plus legal costs.
All names have been changed.
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