A former Warwickshire Police officer committed gross misconduct while in the job by continually contacting a domestic abuse victim.

The officer - who has not been named by the force - persistently asked the victim to meet, despite her saying she did not want to.

The officer sent her "an inappropriate text message" and "formed an inappropriate and unprofessional emotional attachment" to the victim, a hearing on Tuesday (March 26) found.

The hearing also heard the officer has discussed details of the investigation in front of their partner, and pressured the victim to send an email of support to the officer's line manager praising his performance and handling of the case. The contents of the letter was pre-drafted by the officer.

The officer also contacted the victim twice despite them being aware they were under investigation.

The hearing's chair found that the officer fell short of the following standards of professional behaviour:

• Integrity,
• Authority, respect, and courtesy,
• Confidentiality, and
• Conduct

The chair found that, had he been a serving officer, he would have been dismissed without notice.

The officer has been placed on the barred list held by the College of Policing.

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Det. Supt. Thompson of Professional Standards said: "The former officer fell a long way short of the standards we expect in our organisation.

"We treat any and all cases of professional misconduct seriously, particularly as the people who come into contact with us are often vulnerable members of the community in need of support and do not deserve to be let down and abused by their police force."

There are multiple paths of reporting if you have reason to believe a member of Warwickshire Police is guilty of misconduct in their position:

• Make a complaint online at warwickshire.police.uk/fo/feedback/complaints/complaints/
• Contact the CrimeStoppers anonymous anti-corruption and abuse reporting service on 0800 085 0000 or online at reportpoliceabuse.co.uk/
• If you or someone else is in immediate danger call 999
• You can also report crime online at warwickshire.police.uk/report or by phone on 101.