A former West Midlands Police PCSO has been sent to prison for 12 months after he developed a relationship with the victim of a burglary who he would regularly visit during his shift.
Kevin Hathaway, 38, had initially come into contact with his lover after she reported being the victim of an attempted burglary.
But after the initial report was taken, Hathaway began to send flirtatious texts to the woman before entering into a physical relationship with her.
The relationship began in 2018 and Hathaway resigned from the force when the investigation began in August 2019.
West Midlands Police (WMP) referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct when they became aware of the relationship between Hathaway and the female.
WMP had received a tip-off about the fact that Hathaway was visiting his lover at her home while on late shifts.
The IOPC completed their investigation in March 2020 at which point they presented a file to the Crown Prosecution Service which decided to charge Hathaway with one count of misconduct in public office.
Evidence gathered by IOPC investigators showed there were nearly 2,300 calls and messages on his work device that were exchanged between him and the woman over a one-year period.
When IOPC investigators interviewed him, he accepted that flirtatious texts had developed into a sexual relationship with the woman, when he knew that was in breach of the professional code of conduct.
During the interview. Hathaway apologised for what he had done.
Chief Supt Dave Twyford, head of West Midlands Police’s Professional Standards Department, said:
“As a PCSO, Kevin Hathaway had a vital role serving after the community and being a reassuring figure in the streets.
“He abused that position by forming a sexual relationship by with someone he’d met during his duties. During times when he was meant to be working and protecting the public, he was developing an improper sexual relationship with someone he knew he should be not be contacting in a personal capacity.”
“There’s no place in West Midlands Police for those who abuse their position of trust, and we make that really clear to all of our officers, PCSOs and staff. Where people breach that trust, we won’t hesitate in taking firm action.
“The boundaries for our staff are clear and they should not be crossed.”
IOPC Regional Director Derrick Campbell said:
“To maintain trust, police officers and PCSOs must maintain professional boundaries with members of the public.
“Regrettably, Kevin Hathaway chose to abuse the position of trust he was in and has now paid a heavy price.
“I hope this sends a clear message to any officer who misconduct themselves in such a way, that they face serious consequences.”
Kevin Hathaway was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on the 2nd December to 12 months’ imprisonment, having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing on 6 November.
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Drive a car lethally dangerously and no custodial sentence. Shoplift under £100 and nobody bothers at all. Burgle people and not much happens. But if two consenting adults get it together, one goes to jail.
The PCSO was out having a good trime when he should have been on duty and this is gross misconduct. That he hooked up with a burglary victim is inappropriate, but at the end of the day, they were consenting adults committing no crime. He ends up jailed for 12 months while in another report here, a lunatic who slit the throat of a 7 year old, having admitted intending to do so, was deemed not to have committed murder.
The world gets madder by the minute. This is a shocking miscarriage of natural justice. Yes he should have been fired had he not jumped first, but jail time for shagging?
Am I missing something? In the last article a man got two years for a sustained attack on officers beating a female officer on the floor as she pleaded to him. Its not uncommon for an unattached officer to form a relationships with members of public they come into contact with, they are only human. His crime was calling to see her when he was covering that area on duty and e-mailing during works time. Sack him maybe but 12 months in prison? Not even a suspension? Ridiculous absolute madness – judge wants sacking.
I agree with the two previous comments. Hope he’s appealing his sentence.
Bloody ridiculous. Sacked
maybee, jailed definitely not.