Latest news with #StevenAinsworth
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Merseyside Police firearms officer sacked for secret lover visits
A married firearms sergeant who "lived for his job" has been sacked after spending hours with his lover while on Steven Ainsworth, 39, met the woman, a young constable only referred to as Officer A, at a friend's birthday party in 2022 and said they had formed an "instant connection". While he visited her home on 15 different shifts and she came to his house three times, they both emphatically denied ever having sex while on duty. Sgt Ainsworth was found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed without notice by a Merseyside Police misconduct panel, while Officer A received a written warning for misconduct. A four-day hearing at Merseyside Police Headquarters in Liverpool heard Sgt Ainsworth was the force's Tactical Firearms Advisor (TAC) when he was on duty. The role of a TAC is to offer senior officers advice and guidance around tactics when a firearms incident is did not need to be in the same physical location as the senior officers. The panel heard TACs were usually urged not to get "tied up" in other police activity like patrolling or making meant there were hours when Sgt Ainsworth was able to slip away unnoticed from his base at Merseyside Police's Operational Command Centre (OCC) in Speke. The affair came to light when Officer A's boyfriend, also a serving constable, found out and told Sgt Ainsworth's wife, a senior detective who worked in the force's anti-corruption unit. An audit of Sgt Ainsworth's police computer use found a lack of any action related to police work during the time he was at Officer A's also admitted accessing a force computer system to check on Officer A's location, which he said was because he had been worried about her safety after she had raised concerns about being sent to "sketchy" jobs while on solo A also admitted checking on Sgt Ainsworth's location on force systems. The panel heard that on one of the occasions she visited him, she was on a designated break period and was cleared of breaking any rules that day. However on another occasion, while Sgt Ainsworth was off duty, she drove in a patrol car to tell him her partner was planning to expose their affair to his wife. Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, who chaired the panel, said it accepted the two officers had not met to have sex and instead had wanted to offer each other "mutual support" when they were struggling with their mental health and personal issues. However, he said the visits were also to "further their personal relationship". 'World fell apart' The senior officer said the visits had included a shift when Sgt Ainsworth had been involved in advising on a major was acknowledged, however, that he only left the OCC after firearms officers were stood down and there had been no criticism of his performance that Ainsworth told the panel his "world fell apart" when he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office in November 2023.A criminal prosecution was subsequently dropped. He claimed at the time he began seeing Officer A his mental health was suffering due to problems in his marriage and the impact of distressing incidents at work. Matthew Holdcroft, representing the force, told the panel Sgt Ainsworth's conduct was "deliberate" and involved an "abuse" of his role. Luke Ponte, representing Sgt Ainsworth, urged the panel to stop short of ending his client's 17-year policing career. "This was a grave error of judgement over some time but the public might be more forgiving of circumstances in which [the panel] found they were offering each other mutual support," he said. The panel's decision means Sgt Ainsworth's name has been added to the College of Policing's barred list, prohibiting him from working in any policing role. Det Ch Supt Sabi Kaur, head of the force's Professional Standards Department, described the behaviour of the two officers as "completely unacceptable" and said it risked "seriously undermining public confidence in policing". Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- BBC News
Married firearms officer 'spent hours on duty at lover's home'
A married firearms officer spent nearly 65 hours with his girlfriend while both were on duty, a misconduct panel has been told. Sgt Steven Ainsworth told the hearing at Merseyside Police headquarters that he had formed an "instant connection" with a fellow officer after they met at a friend's birthday 39-year-old, who was married to a senior officer within the force's anti-corruption unit, admitted visiting the young constable's home on 15 separate shifts as the affair developed in late 2022 and early 2023. But he denied gross misconduct or that they had had sex during any of the visits, saying instead that he had simply needed to "talk" to her for his mental health. Sgt Ainsworth's girlfriend, granted anonymity by the misconduct panel and only referred to as Officer A, is also accused of gross misconduct, including by visiting his home on three are both accused of breaching professional standards around discreditable conduct, challenging improper conduct, duties and responsibilities and honesty and integrity between November 2022 and April 2023. Sgt Ainsworth is also accused of using force systems to access data on Officer A's location. While accepting he had done so, he denied it was a "serious matter" amounting to gross misconduct. The panel heard the force's Professional Standards Department (PSD) was tipped off about the relationship after Officer A's partner, also a serving officer, told Sgt Ainsworth's wife. Sgt Ainsworth, a 17-year veteran of the force, was arrested in October said that experience made his "world fall apart". Matthew Holdcroft, representing Merseyside Police, told the panel: "It's obvious they should not have been doing that, and it should be obvious to police officers, incumbent as it is upon them to reflect what the public expects of them."Any objective person looking at that would know that's not the right thing to do."The panel heard that part of Sgt Ainsworth's role was to be the designated Tactical Firearms Advisor to the Firearms Incident Commander (FIC) in the event of a firearms role entailed offering advice and support on how to respond. Supt Colin Rooney, head of the force's Matrix gun and gangs unit, and specialist firearms officer Ch Insp Chris McMullin appeared as witnesses and agreed the Tactical Firearms Advisor did not need to be in the same location as the Firearms Incident Commander. Under questioning from Luke Ponte, representing Sgt Ainsworth, Ch Insp McMullin agreed that prior to June 2023, there was a "stigma" attached to the firearms department. He said: "The macho side of things was definitely a historic reputation that came with the department. "There was certainly a fear to report any mental health issue or any issue of resilience for fear of the firearms ticket being removed from the officer." Mental health struggles The panel heard that sergeants in the firearms department would start their shifts in the force's Operational Command Centre in Speke with tasks including arming and deploying their officers and checking the force armoury. Sgt Ainsworth said Tactical Firearms Advisors were encouraged to not get "tied up" in other police matters such as patrols or stop-and-search so they were available in the event of a serious incident. He claimed the reality was that there were often hours with "nothing to do" during shifts once administrative and resourcing tasks were completed, particularly during night shifts. Sgt Ainsworth said that at the time he began an affair with Officer A he was struggling both in his marriage and with the impact of distressing high-profile incidents at work. He described himself as a "task orientated" person who found his "head spinning" when he was not busy, and he felt he could only "calm down" by talking to Officer A. However he said he "cared too much about his job and doing the right thing" to jeopardise it by having sex on duty. Mr Holdcroft accused Sgt Ainsworth of lying about what went on at Officer A's home, suggesting it was not credible that he did nothing more than "kiss her on the cheek". "Taking a step back and looking at it now, can you not see that spending hours at your girlfriend's house undermines public confidence in policing?" Mr Holdcroft Ainsworth replied: "Hindsight is a wonderful thing."The hearing continues. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
