A Salford police officer has been sacked following an ‘improper relationship’ he had with a vulnerable woman he met during his policing duties in the area.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said officer Paul Banks knew “full well that his conduct was egregiously wrong”, and has since been dismissed without notice following a gross misconduct meeting this month.
Officer Banks had met the vulnerable woman in the course of his policing duties. He told her to create an email account and then accessed explicit videos and pictures that she had uploaded to it. He clicked on these more than 200 times and failed to report them to his colleagues.
Banks has been on restricted duties since the investigation began in December 2020. He was sacked without notice in January 2023. His own colleagues reported him to the force’s Professional Standards Branch.
Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Allen, head of GMP’s Professional Standards Branch, said Banks had “abused his position of trust” and that there was no place in GMP for people like him.
He said: “By cultivating an improper relationship with a vulnerable member of the public who he met in the course of his policing duties, the officer has been deservedly sacked from GMP.
“Not only has he disgraced himself, but his depraved behaviour dishonours policing and undermines the principled endeavours of his colleagues, who everyday do a valiant job catching criminals and protecting our communities.
“No decent member of the police service wants to work with the likes of Banks and there will never be a place in GMP for anybody who behaves like him. He abused his position of trust and for that the Office of Constable has been rightly stripped from him.”
Recent Comments