// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Police officer sacked after starting sexual relationship with woman
Police Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin described the behaviour as a "catalogue of corruption"
A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer has been dismissed after an investigation found he initiated a sexual relationship with a woman he met in the course of his duties.
A Police Ombudsman inquiry also found he failed to disclose multiple conflicts of interest, intimidated a former partner, attempted to falsify evidence and asked a colleague to lie.
Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin said the behaviour was a "catalogue of corruption" which had "the potential to do serious damage to public trust and confidence in policing".
The PSNI said the officer's behaviour was "unacceptable and clearly falls far below the standards the public rightly expects at all times from police officers and staff".
Durkin said the officer, known in the investigation as Police Officer B, was a constable "of some experience" and that the allegations he faced was "one of the most serious types of police corruption".
She added that there was "no place for him, or any other officer, in the PSNI who misconducts himself in this way".
"This should send out a clear message to any other officers who may be involved in that type of behaviour that the consequences are that you will be dismissed."
Abuse of position for sexual purposes (APSP) cases currently account for 36% of the most serious cases currently under investigation by the Police Ombudsman's Office.
Investigators at the Police Ombudsman's office spent almost two years working through, what Durkin described as a "very complex, multi-stranded investigation".