A police officer who was suspended by his force over allegations by his ex-wife of domestic abuse and sexual violence has still not been questioned – more than a year after the investigation began.
Sky News reported last March that the officer had been removed from duty after West Yorkshire Police launched an investigation into the claims by his former partner.
A year on, she has spoken of her disappointment that he has not been formally questioned as part of that investigation.
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“Given how serious the reports are that I’ve made and in the current climate, I can’t even find words to describe how I feel about that,” she told Sky News.
“In my personal opinion, I do feel like they did have enough information to even just start at least questioning my ex-husband about the allegations.”
It actually took more than 19 months after she says she first reported her allegations to West Yorkshire Police for an investigation into her ex-husband to begin. She says she requested that another force carry out that investigation.
In a statement, West Yorkshire Police told Sky News that that request was being facilitated and that a complex investigation was ongoing.
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“Video interviews conducted with the victim have now been concluded. It has been necessary for this aspect of the investigation to have been completed before the investigation can progress.
“Given the investigation remains active, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further on the specifics of this case at this time.”
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The force said it encouraged anyone who is a victim of domestic abuse to contact them: “All reports are taken seriously, including those involving West Yorkshire Police officers and staff and these reports will always be fully investigated.”
Last January, the National Police Chiefs’ Council asked all chief constables in England and Wales to take immediate action to look into allegations about officers. They had no comment to make on this case.
Campaigners say the promises of action nationwide have yet to be delivered.
Harriet Wistrich, founder and director of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “Unfortunately from the other cases that we’ve looked at, and we’ve looked at quite a lot of cases involving allegations of domestic abuse by police officers, it seems to be a bit par for the course with a lot of these cases that they’re very slow to investigate.”
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The ex-wife of the officer in West Yorkshire says she feels fortunate that her allegations have led to an investigation.
“I think the public lost trust in the police, particularly since Wayne Couzens,” she said.
“The only way that this is going to end is if the public stand up to the police and, if the police are not being right, if they’re potentially a perpetrator, reporting them and just keep reporting, until something gets done.”
