Cop faces jail after having secret intimate relationship with alleged rape victim

21.01.2022 - 08:32 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A police officer has been told to expect time behind bars after he was found guilty of misconduct in public notice and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

A jury took just two hours and 20 minutes to find Simon Rose, aged 48, guilty of the two offences following a nine-day trial.

They had heard how the police officer from West Lancashire had a secret sexual relationship with an alleged rape victim after calling round to investigate her claim, as reported by Lancs Live.

He kept their intimate relationship quiet and when, coincidentally, a search warrant was later issued for her home he tried to deter his colleagues at Greater Manchester Police force from searching for evidence.

Judge David Swinnerton told Rose: "This will be met with a prison sentence because we have to have trust in our police officers and where they breach that trust prison will follow.”

After the verdicts were returned he remanded Rose in custody over lunch while counsel in the case checked some information. But following the adjournment he released him on bail to await sentence on April 4 and meanwhile a psychiatric report is to be prepared.

Liverpool Crown Court had heard how Rose, of Burnside, Parbold, joined the GMP in 2007 and was attached to the Salford division and was “a highly respected, outgoing police officer".

Vanessa Thomson, prosecuting, said that he met the woman in May 2012 in his role as a specially trained officer involved in dealing with rape and sexual assault allegations and taking a first report from a complainant. She alleged she had been raped after being taken away in a vehicle by two men though the case later did not proceed.

“The relationship endured for a number of years and was hidden from his colleagues until October