Police officers sabotaged child abuse investigations through 'laziness', court hears

Two police officers failed to investigate a string of child sex allegations properly due to a combination of laziness and "cynical disdain" for the victims, a court has heard.

Detective Constables, Sharon Patterson, 49, and Lee Pollard, 47, who worked for Essex Police are accused of deliberately forging documents and concealing evidence over a three-year period.

The pair, who were in a relationship, are also alleged to have fabricated witness statements and given other false information which led to abuse investigations being dropped.

On the opening day of their trial at the Old Bailey, Alexandra Healy QC, prosecuting, said the motive appeared to be a combination of laziness, self preservation and a failure to take complainants seriously.

She said: "The allegations against them involve the forging of documents, concealment of evidence and the misrepresentation of the state of investigations, and the evidence involved in investigations, to supervising officers.

"The effect was that allegations involving child sex offences were not properly investigated.

"The motivation appears to have been a combination of laziness, self-preservation and sometimes a cynical disdain for complainants in these child abuse allegations."

The officers, who live together in Colchester, Essex, each deny three counts of misconduct in a public office between 2011 and 2014.

The allegations came to light when performance reviews were carried out into the child abuse investigation team they worked in.

Ms Healy said the findings suggested the behaviour of Ms Patterson and Mr Pollard went beyond incompetence and was not down to a lack of resources or manpower.

Ms Patterson is accused of falsely representing evidence to her supervisor so no further action was taken against a male suspect and also of fabricating a witness statement.

She also allegedly created a false Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) document to deceive her supervisor into thinking a decision had been taken not to charge a second male.

Mr Pollard allegedly removed and destroyed four photographs that were "important exhibits" to an investigation and also misrepresented evidence to his supervisor so no further action was taken in a separate case.

The trial continues.