Detectives having an affair went for Chinese instead of cracking the case
TWO rogue police officers have been jailed for sabotaging child abuse investigations because they could not be bothered to investigate them.
Former detective constables Sharon Patterson, 49, and Lee Pollard, 47, forged documents, concealed evidence and lied about investigations out of laziness and ‘cynical disdain’ for vulnerable victims, the Old Bailey heard.
Jurors were told Patterson ditched work to get a manicure and have a fourhour lunch at a Chinese restaurant with her married lover Pollard.
When she forged a document to shut down one investigation, Pollard described her as his ‘deceptive partner in crime’ in flirtatious emails, jurors heard.
The former officers, from Colchester, Essex, denied wrongdoing between 2011 and 2014, citing administrative chaos at the child abuse unit in north Essex where
‘Contempt for victims’
they worked. In March, Pollard was found guilty of two charges of misconduct in public office and Patterson was convicted of one similar offence.
Judge Nigel Lickley QC jailed motherof-three Patterson – who broke down in tears in the dock – for 18 months and Pollard for two years.
He told them they had shown ‘contempt’ for victims when they chose to shut down investigations rather than put in the work, believing they would never be found out. The judge added: ‘People relied on you to do your job to the standard expected. You abused that position for your own selfish purposes.’
If pressure of work was a factor, they should have sought help rather than act as prosecutors, he said.
Earlier, prosecutor Alexandra Healy QC said the officers’ ‘deliberate and dishonest conduct’ had caused harm to the public of the ‘utmost seriousness’.
Mitigating, Jacqueline Carey said Patterson had ‘ soldiered on’ in a child abuse unit ‘in crisis’ and ‘crippled by the loss of staff’. She was now virtually penniless, with career prospects that were ‘limited to say the least’, Miss Carey added.
Craig Rush, for Pollard, said he had not set out to act as ‘judge and jury’ in his misguided attempts to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff’.
Mr Rush said: ‘It was not a failing police department, it was a failed police department. In a world where public expenditure is pared to the bone there are consequences.’
The convictions brought an end to a four-year corruption probe into the Essex Police. It was undertaken by the Norfolk force and the police watchdog. Thirty officers, some now retired, were investigated, and 296 Essex child abuse cases looked at – of which 55 were referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Only Patterson and Pollard faced criminal charges, but a third officer – Detective Constable Peter Wood – was sacked for gross misconduct last year.
The lovers’ misconduct came to light in 2014 after a victim complained her signature had been forged – and misspelled – on a statement taken by Patterson. While she was on sick leave, the case was reassigned and resulted in a conviction.
IOPC director Sarah Green said: ‘Survivors of child abuse must have confidence in their police force and feel secure that their allegations will be properly and thoroughly handled.’