Police officers targeted vulnerable women for sexual purposes, MLAs told

Women with “known vulnerabilities” were targeted by police officers for sexual purposes, a police watchdog has said.A report earlier this year by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) revealed each of the alleged victims was classed as being a “vulnerable” individual, and they included a 14-year-old girl.Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin said evidence had been found that some officers targeted women known to have vulnerabilities.These vulnerabilities included a clinical mental health diagnosis, domestic abuse victim, learning disability, physical disability, history of sexual assault, and a background in care.Appearing at the Executive Office scrutiny committee on Wednesday, Ms Durkin said in three cases, they found police officers had sexual contact on the day they met the victims.The committee heard that since January 1, 2025, the Ombudsman’s office had received 49 cases, more than in the five years in the report, which was attributed to some feeling safer to whistle blow.She told MLAs: “The chief constable has described the abusive position for sexual purposes as the most serious form of police corruption, and I agree.“While police officers have a right to a private life, they do not have the right to abuse their unique position for their own gain.“I believe that the majority of PSNI officers abide by their code of ethics every day, and will have been horrified at our findings.“They understand the damage this behaviour causes, not only to victims but also to their profession and community confidence in policing.”Read MoreShe said the report was independently reviewed by Ulster University’s Professor Duncan Morrow, and based on 36 cases received over a five-year period.She said it shows some “startling findings”.The ombudsman said the public ‘must have a high level of trust’ in the PSNI (PA)PA ArchiveThe ombudsman said: “We find that all the victims identified had at least one known vulnerability, with a mean average of around six identified vulnerabilities, and in three cases, we find that police officers had sexual contact on the day they met the victims.“Policing is by necessity a high trust profession. To maintain the fundamental principle of policing by consent, the public must have a high level of trust in the PSNI as a service and in its individual officers.“Women must have confidence that if they are a victim or witness, a suspect or defendant, they will be treated respectfully, professionally, and compassionately.“Unfortunately, we found evidence of officers exploiting their trusted position for sexual gain.“I am encouraged by the strong messages repeatedly delivered by PSNI senior leaders, including from the chief constable, about how these behaviours will not be tolerated.“I am also encouraged that the number of PSNI referrals to my office continues to rise, with almost 50 cases since the analysis contained in this report was concluded on December 31, 2024.”Committee chairwoman Paula Bradshaw described “really predatory behaviour… preying on women and possibly young girls when they’re at their absolute most vulnerable”.The PSNI’s head of public protection, Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee, told the committee that Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has spoken about how seriously the report is being taken, and acknowledged it “affects trust and confidence”.Superintendent Andrea Hill reiterated it was “totally unacceptable” behaviour that “undermines our legitimacy and trust, and causes profound harm to victims”.She said a lot of work has been done on professional standards, including updating processes for referrals to the ombudsman’s office.“This calendar year, we’ve referred 14 cases of APSP (abuse of position for a sexual purpose) to PONI, we closely collaborate with PONI, and that includes the sharing of information, which is really important,” she added.She also revealed that 87% of officers who are currently suspended are cases related to violence against women and girls.“We have 30 officers suspended at this minute in time, and 26 of those are VAWG related,” she said.“We take as many of these cases as we can, where there’s incontrovertible evidence to a special case hearing, where they’re fast tracked out of the organisation.“For those that aren’t incontrovertible evidence, we will take them to misconduct hearing, whether or not there’s criminal prosecution. We will take these as far as we can.“We take them as priority over every other type of case to misconduct hearing, and our dismissal rate around VAWG-related cases is quite high.”