Derbyshire police officers in court accused of 'preying on vulnerable women'

A former police officer from Derbyshire accused of abusing his position to forge sexual relationships with a dozen women he met in the course of his duties has appeared in court.

Daniel Nash, 40, who has resigned as a constable with Derbyshire Police, is said to have targeted vulnerable women, some of whom were victims of domestic violence or suspects in criminal investigations.

The allegations range from Nash trying to kiss or making approaches of a sexual nature to conducting relationships that went on for weeks or months.

Outlining the allegations at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward alleged Nash’s behaviour was “persistent and predatory, using his position as a police officer to meet these women and seeking to leverage his position of power in order to prey on them sexually”.

On one date in October 2015, Nash and serving PC Matthew Longmate, 46, are said to both have had sexual contact with the same woman while on duty.

Ms Ledward said the complainant was heavily intoxicated, having been ejected from a nightclub, and was being given a lift home in a police vehicle at the time.

Nash, from Chesterfield, is charged with 13 counts of misconduct in a public office between January 2015 and December 2020.

He gave no indications of pleas to the charges when he appeared in the dock alongside Longmate, also from Chesterfield, who is currently suspended from the force.

The court heard Longmate, who is charged with a single count of misconduct in a public office relating to "engaging in sexual acts" with a woman in 2015, will plead not guilty.

His allegation is that he engaged in sexual activity with a woman in a police car at the same time as his co-accused.

Nash faces the same charge relating to the same woman as well as 12 further charges, relating to her and 11 other women he is said to have "initiated and pursued" sexual relationships with.

All but one of the women involved in the allegations cannot be identified for legal reasons.

District Judge Michael Snow granted both Nash and Longmate bail on condition they do not contact each other or any of the complainants.

They will next appear at Southwark Crown Court on October 18.