Police: Michael McMillan 'abused trust'

Granada
Merseyside
Liverpool
Monday 11 April 2016 at 1:47pm

Jailed: Michael McMillan Credit: Merseyside Police

Merseyside Police has issued a statement after former Detective Constable Michael McMillan was today been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to seven offences of misconduct in public office.

The charges related to allegations that McMillan had made persistent contact with victims of crime for his own sexual purposes whilst serving as a Detective Constable in the Family Crime Investigation Unit.

Chief Superintendent Karen Cummings, said:

McMillan has today been sentenced to four years after pleading guilty to seven counts of misconduct in public office. He was in a position of trust in the Family Crime Investigation Unit and abused that trust when dealing with vulnerable victims of crime. He manipulated women who looked to him for professional support, for his own sexual gratification and his behaviour is despicable and unforgivable. It is vital that we as a police force maintain the public’s trust and confidence and ensure that officers and staff throughout the force realise the importance of maintaining standards and working with honesty and integrity. We cannot afford to have officers and staff working for us who do not uphold the highest levels of professionalism, honesty and integrity and will always be robust in dealing with officers, or staff, whose conduct is unacceptable. The majority of people who work for Merseyside Police do a really good job day in, day out, and joined the force to serve our communities with compassion and integrity. Sadly the actions of Michael McMillan have the propensity to seriously undermine the good work of the majority. The public quite rightly have high expectations of police officers and Merseyside Police is committed to meeting those expectations by demanding high standards of professionalism, honesty and integrity. >

McMillan was dismissed from the force following a misconduct hearing chaired by Chief Constable Sir Jon Murphy in February this year.