Ex-Stamford police officer committed gross misconduct by sending texts to domestic violence victim

A former Stamford police officer who sent a series of messages to a domestic violence victim to ‘pursue an inappropriate relationship’ would have been sacked had he not retired.

Former Police Constable Andrew Walker sent a number of messages to the woman before he retired in October 2021.

A misconduct hearing last week heard it was alleged that his conduct breached the standards of professional behaviour when he disclosed details of police investigations and police information to the victim which she was not entitled to know.

The chair of the hearing, held at Grantham Police Station, Chief Constable Chris Haward, found the breaches proven and that they amounted to gross misconduct.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said: “It was alleged that between May 2021 and September 2021 the officer breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of exchanging a series of text messages and maintaining contact with a female victim for the purpose of pursuing an inappropriate emotional relationship.

"The female was a victim of domestic abuse that he met through his duties as a police officer when initially responding to a call for service from her.”

The outcome of the hearing was that former Police Constable Andrew Walker would have been dismissed without notice had he not already retired.