Police officer allegedly involved in inappropriate sexual relationship mounts High Court challenge

A serving PSNI officer allegedly involved in an inappropriate sexual relationship is mounting a High Court challenge to facing disciplinary proceedings. He has been granted leave to seek a judicial review of the PSNI’s decisions to suspend him and refer his case to a misconduct hearing. Granted anonymity, the constable was said to have begun a year-long affair with a woman back in 2016.

Based on disclosures about the alleged nature of their relationship, a criminal investigation was carried out. In February 2018 the Public Prosecution Service decided not to bring any charges against the officer. He was initially suspended from duty as part of an internal PSNI inquiry and then made subject to the force's Service Confidence Procedures which imposed significant restrictions on his work. That decision was ultimately quashed by the High Court in April 2022. In September last year, however, the officer was suspended again. It was determined that he had a case to answer for alleged gross misconduct, based on the same material which led to the original proceedings being withdrawn. With the hearing scheduled for later this month, the officer launched an urgent challenge to the lawfulness of the process. His lawyers argued there is no jurisdiction under police conduct regulations to refer the case to a disciplinary panel. It was contended that nothing new has emerged since the first process ended in December 2018.

Counsel for the PSNI submitted that the officer has a potential alternative remedy within the police misconduct regime. But Mr Justice Colton ruled that the legal challenge should advance to a full hearing. Granting leave to seek a judicial review, the judge said: “If the applicant’s complaint in this case is well-founded, the court should protect him from the injustice he alleges, rather than compel him to go through the laborious stages of a hearing and then a potential appeal before the courts vindicate his right not to have to undergo an unjust hearing at all. “His judicial review, if successful, would bring an end to the misconduct proceedings and avoid contested hearings and potential appeals.” He also ordered a stay on the disciplinary proceedings pending the outcome of the court case.

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