Disgraced police officer had sex with student in Premier Inn while on bail for sex attack

A disgraced police constable who sexually assaulted two women in Liverpool city centre also flouted his professional duties by having sex with a junior officer. Paul Ledwith, 49, was a 15-year veteran of Merseyside Police when he was charged with groping two women in July and August 2020.

He denied the offences, but was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault following a trial at Manchester Crown Court in March 2021. A police misconduct hearing, which investigated Ledwith's actions after the allegations first came to light, was held at Eaton Road Police Station in May 2021. It found the former constable - who was responsible for training student police officers - had committed gross misconduct as he breached his bail conditions and contacted a female officer, who he later had sex with in a Premier Inn hotel.

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A hearing report, published on September 27, revealed Ledwith had been served with a regulation 17 notice of investigation following an allegation of inappropriate behaviour in May 2020. He was placed on restricted duties, with one restriction being "not to have contact by an means with student officers" of a particular class.

In August 2020 he was arrested and released on bail on the condition that he was “not to approach or communicate with any student officer within Merseyside Police”. However, between May and August he continued to be in regular contact with one student officer, messaging her on WhatsApp and exchanging racy snaps with her.

The report found, in July 2020, Ledwith met with the student officer on two occasions in a pub car park, where they kissed and engaged in a sexual act. In August 2020 the pair visited the Premier Inn Southport, where they had sex.

Ledwith continued to exchange messages with the female officer, who ended the relationship on August 2 2020. Ledwith blocked her online, but eight days later he attempted to contact her once again using a false name, Thomas Smith, on Facebook. He sent her further messages on August 11, and again on August 16, telling her: “I know I should an texting you and I’m the last person you want to speak to, but I just wanted to make sure you’re ok and I miss you xx".

In a witness statement, the student officer said Ledwith had not informed her of the allegations against him until August 11, when he begged her "not to tell anyone he contacted [her] while on bail as this would cause his wife to find out about the relationship and he would have nothing to live for."

She said: "Ledwith did say that if I tell PSD (Professional standards department) about him contacting me while on bail then it would really get him into trouble and also myself. I did tell Ledwith that I wouldn’t tell anyone, and may have put this in a message to him to stop him thinking suicidal thoughts but [I’m] not completely sure. I recall having also told him [I] would [delete] all his messages from this day."

She said Ledwith said he would end his own life if he was charged with the sexual assault. She added: "I really didn’t know what to do, I was upset worried and concerned and at the time I felt I had no one to confide in or get help from. I did think that if I did go to PSD then he would do something and ultimately I would be responsible for his death. Looking back I was under duress at the time as I did not know what was the right thing to do.”

Cecily White, representing Merseyside Police, submitted: "PC Ledwith was well aware of the restriction and bail condition and took deliberate steps to breach them. Repeated behaviour, sustained over a period of time – there was both a breach of restriction (imposed in May 2020) and a breach of bail (imposed in August 2020) through sustained contact with PC [redacted] between May and August 2020." She said Ledwith "flagrantly breached the restrictions imposed on him" and showed "no evidence of remorse, insight or acceptance of responsibility".

The panel found Ledwith's behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, having breached the standards of professional behaviour: honesty and integrity, orders and instructions and discreditable conduct. On its website, Merseyside Police said: "Had the officer still been serving he would have been dismissed without notice and he has been placed on the College of Policing barred list."