Very strange behaviour

cymrococh · June 22, 2007

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/6228046.stm

A police officer who was found guilty of performing sex acts in front of a female prisoner in a squad car has been given a suspended jail term.

Richard Bowen, 31, was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and also ordered to do 100 hours community service.

Bowen from Cardigan, Ceredigion, will also be put on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Dyfed-Powys Police said Bowen had also been dismissed from the force.

A Swansea Crown Court jury found him guilty of two counts of indecent exposure and one of abusing a position of public trust after a week-long trial in May.

During the trial, the court heard how in April 2006 Bowen was sitting in the back of the unmarked police car with the 25-year-old woman who was accused of stealing a car, as his female colleague drove.

Custodial sentence

During the journey, the court was told he started to write suggestive notes to the woman - they included demands for sex.

When she failed to respond he committed the sex act twice in front of her.

Following a complaint to his bosses by the woman when they arrived at the police station in Lampeter, an investigation was launched.

Forensic scientists found evidence on a handkerchief and on the back seat of the squad car.

On Thursday, Judge Christopher Morton accepted that Bowen should not face a custodial sentence.

"In my judgment, you are not a danger within the meaning of the Criminal Justice Act," said Judge Morton, passing sentence.

"What makes what you did so serious that it should be a prison sentence is the fact that you did it to a female prisoner while carrying out your duty as a police officer."

Christopher Clee, defending, had said: "The offence was out of character."

He added: "Prison would have a devastating effect and his previous career would cause him significant problems within the prison environment."

Bowen will return to Cardigan for his community service to paint and decorate homes on an estate close to where he grew up.

Dyfed-Powys Police said after Thursday's sentence was passed that Bowen had been dismissed.

Twice? How long was the journey?

Cobs · June 22, 2007

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