Probe into cop accused of sex harassment
New investigation over assault claim
POLICE are reinvestigating a senior officer accused of being a sex pest – and who now works with abuse victims.
The new probe follows a Sunday Mirror exposé this month into Det Insp Craig Smith.
He got a final warning in 2020 from West Mercia Police, which has confirmed the new probe. Complaints from five officers of a lower rank related to him “acting inappropriately” on nights out and in social media messages.
One victim – now taking the force to a tribunal over its handling of the case – claimed to have been sexually assaulted but was told her allegation didn’t meet the criminal threshold.
The Mirror understands the new probe will revisit her account to see if there is enough evidence to charge DI Smith with any sexual offence. A police source said: “When Smith was allowed to keep his job, she felt sick. The episode left her broken, needing long periods off work with stress. She’s been told they will now do a proper criminal investigation.”
Supt James Baker led the internal probe and ruled DI Smith’s conduct “resulted in physical, emotional and sexual harm to female colleagues junior in rank”. He noted similarities in complaints from five women.
Misconduct was found and a final written warning issued. It was valid for 18 months, meaning DI Smith’s record is now clean. He was moved from his post to a CID unit which deals with a high volume of sex abuse cases.
Another source said: “People are asking, ‘How can we seriously have this guy investigating complaints of sexual abuse’?” West Mercia Police said: “The investigation has been reopened. There are a number of lines of inquiry we’d like to follow.”