Police officer, 48, who formed relationship with vulnerable rape victim is jailed for three years
Police officer, 48, who formed secret sexual relationship with vulnerable rape victim is jailed for three years after romance was exposed when he tried to stop raid on her home
A constable with Greater Manchester Police had a relationship with a rape victimPaul Rose, 48, met the woman while investigating the crime against her in 2012The ‘friendship’ continued until 2019 when a warrant was issued at her home Rose, of Parbold, Lancashire, panicked and used his influence to stop the search
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A police constable who had a sexual relationship with a vulnerable rape victim and later used his influence to avert a police warrant at her home was today jailed for three years.
Simon Rose, 48, was a respected officer who had served Greater Manchester Police for five years when he struck up the inappropriate relationship with the woman while investigating her case in May 2012.
Their relationship endured for seven years until October 2019 when her name came under the spotlight over a search warrant at her home, prosecutor Vanessa Thomson told Liverpool Crown Court.
After telling colleagues to ignore any evidence found at the flat, they abandoned the warrant but the woman was interviewed, which brought the affair to light.
Rose, of Parbold, Lancashire, was convicted of misconduct in public office and attempting to pervert the course of justice after a nine day trial in January.
Sentencing him today, Judge David Swannerton said: ‘You took advantage of vulnerable victim by forming a sexual relationship with her.
Former police constable Simon Rose, 48, of Parbold, Lancashire, was today jailed for three years for misconduct in public office after having a relationship with a rape victim
PC Simon Rose met the victim while investigating her case in 2012 and they went on to have a sexual relationship. He later used his influence to thwart a police search at her home
‘You have breached not only the trust of your immediate colleagues, people who saw you as a friend, but the trust the public expect and are entitled to have in police officers.
‘Police officers behaving like you did damage trust in the whole police service and it is to the detriment of every single police officer and society as a whole,’ he added.
The court heard that Rose had been attached to the Salford division of GMP and was ‘a highly respected, outgoing police officer’ according to Miss Thomson.
He met the woman in his role as a specially trained officer involved in dealing with rape and sexual assault allegations. She alleged she had been raped at knifepoint after being taken away in a vehicle by two men although the case did not proceed.
Miss Thomson said that by 2019 Rose was based at Swinton Police Station and his role included executing search warrants. One of the addresses involved the woman’s home, although there was no suggestion she was involved in criminality.
Rose was based at Swinton Police Station in Greater Manchester in October 2019 when news of the affair came to light
On October 3, 2019, he went with two colleagues to execute the warrant and en route admitted he was on friendly terms with the woman.
As they got nearer, he said he was worried that something would be recovered from her home which would get him sacked.
He became increasingly anxious and asked his colleagues to overlook any evidence they found and they consequently abandoned executing the warrant that day.
Although Rose insisted he genuinely didn’t believe there was a firearm at the property, Judge Swinnerton said he accepted that his real motivation was to cover up his ‘own shameful secret’.
Rose later admitted in cross-examination that forming a sexual or emotional relationship with such a victim was entirely wrong.
‘But knowing it, that is precisely the sort of relationship you entered into,’ said the judge, who pointed out that Rose had carried out the clandestine relationship behind his partner and his colleagues’ backs.
After his behaviour came to light and the woman was interviewed she told how their relationship became sexual a few months after their first meeting and they had sex on three or four occasions.
Rose appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today where he was jailed for three years for misconduct in public office
Rose later admitted in cross-examination that forming a sexual or emotional relationship with such a victim was entirely wrong
She said that they had had exchanged sexual messages and spoken about their sexual fantasies and she sent him explicit photographs of herself. He repeatedly told her to delete their messages and keep their relationship quiet.
The woman told how she had had strong feelings for Rose and that he had discussed them being together even though he had a partner.
When she met someone else, her relationship with Rose turned to close friendship which lasted for a number of years.
In an impact statement today, the victim described how they had a close emotional relationship after their initial sexual encounters and when he suddenly ended all contact she felt used and upset.
She said the lies he had told during the trial ‘were horrible. I knew they were wrong.’
Sarah Barlow, defending, said that the couple’s relationship had been ‘a genuine friendship’ but she did not dispute the victim’s distress.
In relation to the search warrant he did not believe that there were any firearms.
‘He was acting very much in panic trying to save his own skin, thinking of his own job,’ said Ms Barlow.
The court heard that he has lost his relationship with his partner as well as his job.
