Senior detective kissed married colleague in unmarked police car they used for secret stake-outs

A senior detective has been found guilty of misconduct after he had an affair with a colleague and kissed her in an unmarked police car that they used for top-secret stake-out missions.Detective Sergeant Andrew Hedley, 52, admitted kissing his married partner in the unmarked vehicle after the end of their covert surveillance operations.'Experienced' DS Hedley and the female officer - part of an organised crime unit - went on deployments together across the country and had sex in hotels while off-shift.Their smooches in an unmarked car could last for up to 20 minutes - but DS Hedley insisted it was after a deployment ended and that they were never intimate on duty.Their 18-month secret sexual romance came to an end when it was discovered by the female officer's husband in December 2024.Now, DS Hedley has been found guilty of misconduct by Hampshire Constabulary because he didn't disclose the relationship and because he kissed her in the unmarked car.At a Hampshire Constabulary misconduct hearing, DS Hedley said he didn't disclose the affair because he was worried about the 'detrimental repercussions' to both their personal lives.DS Hedley was given a written warning for 18 months. Detective Sergeant Andrew Hedley said that he would never conduct any sexual relations with the officer when he was on dutyDS Hedley was working for the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) at the time of his misconduct and would be sent on operations involving national and international crime in human trafficking, firearms and drugs.The hearing was told that he would go on multiple-day deployments all around the country and was involved in surveillance operations.He became a detective sergeant with Hampshire Constabulary in 2005, having joined nine years earlier. He moved to SEROCU t in 2019, after spending time in counterterrorism.He then returned to Hampshire after the affair was exposed and he was told he could not continue working alongside the female colleague, referred to as PC A.Representing the police force, Charles Apthorp said that DS Hedley was a sergeant, acting up as a Detective Inspector at the time of the incidents.He said: 'The officer joined the constabulary in 1996. He is fully familiar with the standards and the ethics of the constabulary.'[The allegations are] all about the risk presented by the relationship and what can be the effect of it and that is why it says you must report your relationships.'On admission of the misconduct of the officer, there was no disclosure to the vetting unit, so this is a serious breach from a person has been a police officer for 30 years, someone who is a Detective Inspector and a leading role.'Giving evidence at the hearing, DS Hedley said he had stayed in a hotel with the officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on seven occasions over 18 months.He told the hearing in Eastleigh that these were when they had been deployed on operations, and they needed to stay overnight.DS Hedley said that he would never conduct any sexual relations with the officer when he was on duty.He accepted that he was having an affair with the officer and that he did not disclose this affair until it was discovered by her husband and another woman a few days before Christmas in 2024.He also admitted kissing her in an 'unmarked police car,' but he said that as a surveillance car this would not be identifiable to the public as a police car, as it was designed to be an 'everyday car'.He said their smooches always happened when saying goodbye after a deployment.DS Hedley told the hearing: 'As appalling as it sounds and as ashamed as I am to admit it, PC A got engaged while we were having an affair, and she did get married, and we decided to end the affair, but it was shortly after that we started the affair again.'The panel was told DS Hedley's marriage has since ended, but PC A remains married.DS Hedley said that the officer was very experienced in surveillance as she had been working in that capacity for 10 years.He said that he did not have control of the deployments and could not try to deploy himself with the officer.When he was asked after 30 years why he had not decided to retire, he said: 'I love the police. I am the definition of someone who is obsessed with work.'DS Hedley was found to have committed misconduct, but the panel did not find it amounted to gross misconduct.Assistant Chief Constable Tara McGovern said that his failure to disclose the affair and the kissing in the unmarked police car were breaches of the policing standards.She said: 'He is a very experienced officer who knew what the policy required of him.'He should have disclosed the affair, and he shouldn't have kissed PC A in a police vehicle.'However, it was found that he was not a more senior officer than PC A and that he had not been on duty when there were any sexual acts.Although they were on deployment together, he was never on duty when he kissed her in the unmarked police car.ACC McGovern said there was no 'actual' conflict of interest in the relationship, but there was a 'risk' of this arising in 'favouritism'.