A POLICE officer who pursued relationships with vulnerable women would have been fired had he not resigned, a disciplinary panel determined.
Former West Mercia PC Alex MacPherson, 55, was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in his hearing with the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).
He has been permanently banned from working for any police force.
The south Worcestershire based officer had a three year relationship with one woman and made inappropriate and excessive communications with another, both of whom were victims of crime and who he met during the course of his duties.
MacPherson met with the first woman, referred to in the hearing as Ms C, when appointed as the investigating officer in relation to an alleged assault on her in August 2018.
The 55-year-old exchanged over 300 messages with the victim via his work phone and had sexual intercourse with her while still in charge of her case.
Following her case he continued to have a sexual relationship with her for three years and failed to disclose the relationship.
Later, in March 2021, the former officer was responsible for investigating allegations of an assault on an employee, known as Ms A, which took place at a bank.
He attempted to establish an ’emotional and/or sexual relationship’ with Ms A by making an excessive and unnecessary number of visits to her workplace.
The panel also heard how he behaved in an inapproriate manner, saying things such as ‘here she is, miss beautiful, she has made my day’ as well as routinely signing off text messages to the victim with ‘x’ and occasionally including content of a ‘flirtatious’ and ‘inappropriate’ nature.
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Cooper, said: “In our role as police officers we come in to contact with people when they are at their most vulnerable.
“Our job is to protect them, not to exploit them as MacPherson did.
“He used his position of trust and power to take advantage of vulnerable victims, which is abhorrent and totally unacceptable.
“When the allegations against MacPherson came to light an investigation was started immediately and he was subsequently suspended.
“I hope the result of today’s hearing yet again shows that we take misconduct incredibly seriously and are on a mission to root out corrupt officers.”
A file of evidence was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service by the IOPC, but no criminal charges were brought against the officer.
