Home / Crime and Justice / Cop Keeps Job After On-Duty Affair with Subordinate Colleague
Cop Keeps Job After On-Duty Affair with Subordinate Colleague
18 Nov
Summary
- Police officer had sexual relationship with junior colleague on duty
- Misconduct panel gave final written warning, not dismissal
- Judge ruled panel's decision was reasonable given officer's mental health issues
In a recent ruling, a High Court judge has backed the decision of a police misconduct panel to give a final written warning to a Greater Manchester officer who had sex with a junior colleague while on duty in 2020.
The officer, Insp Alex Taylor, began a relationship with a police community support officer (PCSO) earlier that year, exchanging flirtatious and sexual messages on WhatsApp. On April 20, 2020, he met the off-duty PCSO and they had sex on a sofa at the police premises.
The panel found that Taylor had "failed to act with self-control or professionalism" and created a "toxic working environment" for his junior colleagues. However, they opted for a final written warning rather than dismissal, citing psychiatric evidence that Taylor's decision-making was impaired due to mental health issues at the time.
