Police officer who had sex with 'domestic abuse victim' faces prison

A police officer who had sex with a domestic abuse victim during Covid lockdown has been found guilty of misconduct in public office.

PC Declan Middleton, 33, was described as a 'predator' by one of his victims who said she 'felt like a prostitute, but an unpaid one'.

On an earlier visit to her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire, Middleton had grabbed her bum when she was wearing hot pants and he was in uniform and said 'nice arse' as he followed her up the stairs.

Leeds Crown Court heard that he also struck up inappropriate and sexualised relationships with two other female victims of domestic violence.

Middleton, also of Keighley, is now no longer an officer with West Yorkshire Police, but at the time of the allegations he was a member of the domestic violence response team, based at Eccleshill Police Station, Bradford.

Today a jury found Middleton guilty of two counts of of misconduct in public office between 2020 and 2021. He was cleared of a third charge.

Judge Simon Batiste adjourned sentencing for the preparation of reports. He granted Middleton conditional bail, but warned him all sentencing options - including custody - remain open.

His first victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, contacted the West Yorkshire Police in May 2020 during the Covid lockdown after she was attacked by her partner and after social services had taken her children away from her.

She told the trial that she was on a cocktail of prescription and illegal drugs at the time, including diazepam, amphetamines and cocaine.

'I was not on this planet. When I look back now, my behaviour was a disgrace,' she said. 

She reported that she had been kidnapped and assaulted by her ex partner and was suffering from anxiety, depression and was bipolar.

Middleton was tasked with visiting her at her Keighley home to obtain a statement and photograph her injuries.

When Middleton arrived in uniform, the complainant, who was then aged 28, was in the garden wearing hot pants and a crop top.

'He was very charming. He's not ugly and he knows he's not ugly because he's very cocky about it,' she told the jury.

She said he face was 'black and blue' with bruising at the time.

During his first visit Middleton asked to use her toilet, and he insisted she show him where it was and she led him up the stairs.

'He could see my behind and he just grabbed my bum,' she said.

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'It felt like a squeeze. It didn't hurt. He wasn't trying to cover it up. To me, it was like it was planned.'

Middleton got her mobile telephone number and began WhatsApp communications following the initial visit.

'Every time he said something explicit he would remind me not to say anything,' she said, but she had already told her best friend about Middleton.

He organised to revisit her a couple of days later, and he arrived in plan clothing wearing shorts, a T-shirt and Timberland boots.

Within five minutes they went upstairs and had consensual sex. He put on a condom he had brought with him, she told the jury.

'I felt bad, like "oh God, what have I done?",' she added.

After that occasion Middleton continued to message her, wanting to have sex again.

She said he was 'persistent' and she wound him up by telling him he had to come round in his uniform the next time.

When he did eventually arrive in his uniform she fled the house and was driven away by her friend.

'I slept with him once and once only. But I do believe that if I had carried it on, he would have carried it on,' she said.

'I felt used.'

Later that year, in around August, she came off the drugs and got clean.

'I didn't want to be around male officers and I didn't want any male officers in my house,' she said.

'Now I look at him, he's a predator. That guy is not doing his job properly. That guy is a predator. That guy has come with a condom.'

After getting clean she reported what she had done with Middleton to West Yorkshire Police because she was concerned he was working in domestic violence and she felt he might be doing similar things to other vulnerable young women.

The trial heard that he was behaving in similar inappropriate manners to two other victims of domestic violence.

Middleton was in contact with a second woman in July 2020 when she reported her abusive ex partner contacting her.

He visited her at her home, where she was upset and crying.

Middleton was very familiar and she felt she was on a date and they messaged one another.

They were to exchange around 400 messages. He sent images of himself. And she sent an image of herself lying down, wearing just a thong, and showing the tattoo on her right thigh.

Middleton remarked: 'That's an absolute cracking photo by the way.'

The third complaint contacted the police in September 2020, at the same time as Middleton was continuing to be in touch with the second woman.