Gross misconduct proven against ex-Warwickshire detective who formed inappropriate relationship

Gross misconduct allegations against ex-Detective Sergeant Paul Whitehurst, were found proven on Wednesday (October 8) after a two-day hearing organised by Warwickshire Police, which followed five investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The IOPC concluded that he had a case to answer for gross misconduct in four of those cases, which also included allegations relating to improper images found on his work phone.

The former officer, who resigned in May 2024, was found by the disciplinary panel to have breached police professional standards of behaviour for authority, respect and courtesy, and for discreditable conduct.

The hearing was told that Det Sgt Whitehurst met a woman in a bar whom he recognised from previous contact through his duties. They started exchanging messages and by February 2020 he had formed an inappropriate relationship with her.

Evidence gathered by IOPC investigators indicated that the relationship continued in an on/off fashion until September 2020 when the woman raised concerns about him to his line manager. At that point he disclosed the relationship to police.

The IOPC began investigating following a conduct referral from Warwickshire Police in November 2020. But despite the officer being instructed by superiors not to contact the woman he continued to send her messages and go to her address.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Sartoris from the Warwickshire Police Professional Standards Department, said: “The harm caused by Whitehurst’s misconduct will have a lasting impact upon the victim and our thoughts remain with them.

“His actions represented a profound breach of public trust and professional standards, and such conduct is utterly incompatible with the oath taken by officers.”

IOPC Director Emily Barry said: “When police officers abuse their position for a sexual purpose, particularly in respect of vulnerable people, such behaviour represents a fundamental betrayal of the public’s trust and the values for which the police service stands.

“Such conduct amounts to serious corruption, and in Det Sgt Whitehurst’s case it is all the more reprehensible given he worked in the force’s anti-corruption unit, and before that in the professional standards department. He would have been acutely aware of the need to maintain professional boundaries with members of the public, and yet he chose to cross that boundary in full knowledge of the woman’s vulnerabilities from the outset.

“There is no place in policing for this kind of behaviour and quite rightly he has been held accountable for his actions.”

Other allegations proven against the officer concerned improper use of his work mobile, which was examined and found to contain 714 inappropriate images including some of topless women, videos with explicit sexual content, and offensive jokes about domestic violence and misogyny.

It was also found proven that he had deleted WhatsApp from the mobile to frustrate the investigation into his activities.

An accelerated gross misconduct hearing in June 2024 concluded that had Det Sgt Whitehurst not already resigned he would have been dismissed for matters unrelated to the IOPC’s investigations. He was also barred from future employment with the police service.

The IOPC said it directed Warwickshire Police to hold this week’s hearing to “ensure accountability” and because it felt it was “in the public interest to do so”.

In May 2023 the IOPC referred a file of evidence about the officer’s conduct to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider any potential criminal offences, including possible stalking, harassment, and coercive and controlling behaviour. In December that year the IOPC was advised by the CPS that no charges were being brought against the officer.

The last of the IOPC’s investigations was completed in June 2023.