By Lucy Caulkett-
A former Greater Manchester Police officer has been arrested following allegations that he abused his position to target vulnerable women, including survivors of child sexual abuse whose personal information he had accessed through his police work.
The arrest follows a year-long investigation by LBC, which uncovered allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct involving multiple women and prompted an independent investigation into how Greater Manchester Police handled the complaints.
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The former officer, who left the force in 2021, is suspected of misconduct in public office in connection with alleged non-recent offences spanning 2016 to 2022. Greater Manchester Police confirmed that he had been released on bail with conditions while further inquiries continue. The allegations have not been proved, and the former officer denies them.
The case has renewed scrutiny of police accountability, with the latest figures revealing that 59 officers were convicted of sexual offences across 26 forces in England and Wales between 2022 and 2025- a worrying figure which reminds the British public that many unscrupulous officers do find their way into the police force
. Those statistics cannot account for other officers who escape detection either because their position of authourity intimadates vcitims to make a report, or some victims simply do niot want the hassle. It is fair to say that even thn, the vast majoroty of police officers are very unlikely to commit such atrocious crimes.
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The arrest follows a year’s long sophisticated investigation by LBC which uncovered allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct involving multiple women and prompted an independent investigation into how Greater Manchester Police handled the complaints.
At the heart of the story is a 28 year old lady by the name of Harriet,(pictured) details her disturbing encounter with the former police officer. She alleges that the former officer first came into contact with her in 2019, when she reported historic child abuse to police.
After the force decided in 2020 that no further action would be taken, she told the new sorganisation that he subsequently contacted her through social media, presenting himself as someone who could help reopen her case and secure justice.
According to Harriet, the former officer used his knowledge of her previous experiences to establish trust before allegedly manipulating her into sexual activity under the pretence of gathering evidence. She claims he told her that the alleged abuse she had suffered needed to be reenacted so that he could demonstrate her distress if the case eventually reached court. Harriet says she believed his claims because he appeared to have the knowledge and connections needed to help her.
The alleged manipulation went beyond sexual coercion. Harriet told LBC that the former officer exploited her fear of the police, making her believe that the force wanted to kill her and that marrying him would protect her.
She also described a climate of fear affecting her family, including incidents involving damaged security cameras outside their home. The claims have not been independently established in court, but they form part of the allegations now under investigation.
Harriet said the former officer initially contacted her online while pretending not to recognise her. She eventually challenged him because she still had his telephone number saved from his earlier involvement in her case. He then acknowledged their previous connection, telling her he had left the police and was developing new ways to help victims whose cases had not produced the outcomes they deserved.
For someone who had already been disappointed by the criminal justice system, the prospect of having her allegations reconsidered was compelling. Harriet says the former officer promised that he could reopen the investigation because he believed she was telling the truth. When her original allegations were subsequently reopened, she believed his promises were genuine. She now alleges that this apparent progress helped deepen her trust in him.
LBC say their investigation has uncovered allegations from other women, including one referred to as Peri, who says she was 14 and still at school when she encountered the officer during a stalking investigation.
She alleges that he subsequently sent her sexualised messages, made comments about handcuffs and arrived at her home without another officer accompanying him. Documents and messages reviewed by LBC reportedly indicate that other vulnerable women were also contacted by the former officer.
The investigation has raised serious questions about the handling of complaints over several years. Harriet says she reported allegations of rape and sexual assault to police on multiple occasions, but felt her concerns were not properly investigated. She also told LBC that charities, solicitors and organisations supporting her had raised concerns with the authorities.
Cheshire Police confirmed that it assisted Greater Manchester Police by taking statements from Harriet and received a hard drive from her in 2022. The force said the drive was not required for the original investigation and was placed in storage before being requested by GMP as part of a separate investigation. Cheshire Police also confirmed that Harriet made a further report in February 2023 and was subsequently visited by officers who conducted a video interview.
Greater Manchester Police said the former officer was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and that the Independent Office for Police Conduct was now independently investigating the allegations and the force’s handling of the case.
The IOPC described the alleged abuse of a position to pursue a sexual or otherwise improper relationship as a form of serious corruption that risks undermining public confidence in policing.
The former officer has rejected Harriet’s allegations. In a written statement to LBC, he said he was shocked by the claims and acknowledged lying about his identity when contacting her, but said that it had meant nothing at the time. He denied coercing her into sexual activity for evidential purposes, describing that allegation as a lie. He has not been found guilty of any offence in relation to the current investigation.
The case comes against a disturbing national backdrop. Figures obtained through freedom of information requests by The Independent found that 59 police officers had been convicted of sexual offences since the beginning of 2022, based on responses from 26 of the 42 police forces in England and Wales.
That compares with 30 officers convicted between 2018 and 2021, representing an increase of approximately 34 per cent. Because not every force supplied data, the figures should not be treated as a complete national total. Nevertheless, they highlight the seriousness of concerns about sexual offending within policing.
Separate Home Office statistics published in January 2026 offer another indication of the scale of criminal proceedings involving officers. In the year ending March 2025, 189 individual police officers were involved in criminal court proceedings involving 323 charges.
Sexual offences accounted for 26 per cent of those charges, making them the largest single offence category. Of the 168 officers whose case outcomes were known, 113 were found guilty or pleaded guilty of at least one offence. Those figures cover criminal proceedings generally, however, and do not establish how many officers were convicted specifically of sexual offences during that period.
The wider issue is not simply whether individual officers commit criminal acts, but whether forces have effective systems for detecting abuse of authority, protecting complainants and responding promptly when allegations emerge.
Police officers can have access to highly sensitive information about victims, witnesses and people seeking protection. If that access is exploited for personal purposes, the consequences can extend far beyond the immediate alleged offence, damaging victims’ confidence in the institutions they are expected to trust.
Harriet’s account highlights the particular vulnerability of people who approach police after experiencing abuse. She told LBC that the failure to feel heard by those responsible for protecting her had caused profound additional trauma. Her experience, as alleged, raises difficult questions about whether the mechanisms intended to safeguard vulnerable people were sufficient to recognise and respond to warning signs.
The IOPC investigation is at an early stage, and its findings will be important in establishing what happened, what was known to police and whether any failures occurred. The former officer remains entitled to the presumption of innocence while the criminal investigation continues.
For Harriet and the other women who have spoken to LBC, the immediate question is whether their allegations will finally receive the scrutiny they believe they have been denied. For Greater Manchester Police, the investigation presents a test of its willingness to examine its own actions as rigorously as it investigates alleged wrongdoing by others.
The arrest marks a significant development, but it is not the conclusion of the case. The challenge now is to establish the facts, ensure that evidence is examined independently and provide appropriate support to those who have come forward. In a profession whose authority depends on public trust, allegations that an officer used the machinery of policing to exploit vulnerable people demand a thorough and transparent response.
LBC was contacted to inquire the officer’s identity, why it was withheld., and other apects of the story.
Their representative politely said they were not prepared to discuss the story.
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