His bosses have written the final chapter in the career of a former Cambridgeshire police officer who quit the force THREE years ago for alleged improper behaviour FIVE years ago. A disciplinary panel concluded one time police constable Benjamin Mace breached professional standards.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out the investigation and organised the one-day gross misconduct hearing on December 5. They have not revealed whether Mr Mace attended.
The hearing was told that the former Cambridgeshire officer visited a woman in police uniform while off duty.
He then used police issue handcuffs for a sexual encounter, says the IOPC.
The only sanction open to them was to place him on the barred list which means he can never be re-employed by any police force.
“He would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had he not already resigned,” said an IOPC spokesperson.
The panel heard that the former officer, who resigned in October 2021, first met the woman in October 2019 when they matched on a dating app.
PC Mace stated in his dating profile that he was a police officer based in Peterborough and after exchanging messages for around a month, the officer arranged to meet the woman in person at her address.
PC Mace visited the woman’s home dressed in police uniform, while off duty and without a policing purpose, and placed her in police issue handcuffs while engaging in sexual contact with the woman.
“Following a one-day gross misconduct hearing a panel found that the former officer had breached the police standards of professional behaviour relating to honesty and integrity, and discreditable conduct,” said the IOPC spokesperson.
“The officer will now be placed on the police’s barred list.”
IOPC regional director Charmaine Arbouin said: “The public have a right to expect police officers to maintain high levels of professionalism and integrity, whether on or off duty.
“PC Mace abused his position as a police officer and his actions are a discredit to policing and undermine the public’s confidence in the service.
“While this officer has since resigned from policing, as a result of this hearing he’ll be placed on the police barred list and cannot be employed as an officer in the future.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out the investigation and organised the one-day gross misconduct hearing on December 5. They have not revealed whether Mr Mace attended.The investigation began following a conduct referral from the Cambridgeshire force in May 2020.
After concluding its investigation in January 2021, the IOPC submitted a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
In January 2022, the CPS authorised a charge of sexual assault by touching, however that charge was later dropped.
Mace had indicated a plea of not guilty to the single charge of sexual assault when he appeared originally before Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court and prior to the charge being dropped.
The court heard that at the time he lived in Palmerston Road, Woodston, Peterborough.
