Officer on duty used van for car-park sex

A POLICE officer on duty had sex in the back of his police van with a member of the public while parked in a supermarket car park.

Ian Dawson contacted a woman during his shift asking if she would like to meet up. When she agreed, Mr Dawson drove to her home, picked her up and went to the nearby supermarket for sex, dropping her off again afterwards.

Mr Dawson has now been sacked and banned from all police forces for life after bosses heard about his on-duty activity. He also admitted having a sexual relationship with a colleague that he failed to declare.

At an accelerated misconduct hearing in Newcastle, Winton Keenen, Northumbria Police’s chief constable, heard the officer should have been protecting the public. The incident happened in September 2020, when the country was still in lockdown and people were being advised against unnecessary mixing with others.

The hearing was told: “He was on duty in a police uniform, in a marked police van, when he collected Ms A from her house in the police vehicle and drove her to a supermarket car park.”

In October 2021, Mr Dawson also lied to his bosses about a sexual relationship with a member of police staff, Ms B. When asked about the relationship, he twice denied being involved with her when he knew it to be a lie.

In sacking Mr Dawson, Chief Constable Keenen acknowledged that the sexual behaviour of police officers was under scrutiny.

He said: “There is an understandable expectation of the public that police officers will act at all times in ways that

‘There is an expectation that police officers will not engage in sexual activity whilst on duty’

do not discredit the public service to which they dedicate their working lives. With that comes the expectation that they will not engage in sexual activity whilst on duty.

“This has always been the case but now, perhaps more than ever, there is a recognisable increase in the expectations in the public regarding the behaviours of police officers.”

Mr Dawson was sacked without notice for gross misconduct and placed on the Royal College of Policing’s barred list.