Disgraced Northamptonshire Police officer jailed over sexual Snapchats to woman he arrested faces disciplinary panel

A disgraced former police constable jailed for pestering a woman he arrested with Snapchat messages faces a force disciplinary hearing in Northampton on Wednesday (November 23).

Oliver Binns was sentenced to seven months by a judge at Northampton Crown Court after admitting misconduct in a public office for using a variety of fake usernames to hide messages to other women from his partner. He quit the force but must still face the virtual hearing, chaired by Chief Constable Nick Adderley over accusations he breached standards of professional behaviour and is likely to lead to him being barred from ever serving as a police officer again.

According to details of the case published by Northamptonshire Police, Binns also accessed a confidential police database to glean personal details about the woman he had first ‘met’ when she was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm on September 30, 2020. A notice says: “The misuse of systems was extensive and involved a high number of occasions of intrusion in respect of personal data.

“This amounts to gross misconduct because it was was a serious abuse of his position for sexual purpose and it resulted in being convicted of a criminal offence.”

In June this year, the court heard that the woman was released from custody at 11.30pm after being arrested by Binns and another officer.

Jonathan Dunne, prosecuting, said she was given a car ride home by a friend and immediately went to sleep. She awoke at 8am on October 1 with a friend request from a Snapchat account called ‘Liam KC.’

The court heard that the woman initially suspected the account to belong to an ex-partner before “numerous” messages from the same account arrived making comments including, “I wish I could have come into your cell last night,” and “you are the nicest looking person I’ve ever arrested.” Binns then confirmed his identity by sending a photo of himself.

Mr Dunne said the victim blocked the account but was bombarded by more messages from different usernames, which she also believed belonged to Binns.

Rebecca Bax, in mitigation, told the court that Binns felts “significant embarrassment and shame” adding that Binns had been going through a “difficult” period in his life and — feeling lonely and isolated — became embroiled in gambling.

She said: “He has lost his dream job as a result of his behaviour for which he is very remorseful.”

Earlier this year, Mr Adderley pledged to “root out any bad apples” at Northamptonshire Police while launching a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, admitting there is a need to rebuild public trust and confidence following the horrific rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Metropolitan Police Wayne Couzens last year.

Detective Chief Inspector Nickie Deeks, the force lead for tackling violence against women and girls, said: “The Chief Constable has very clear expectations of officers and staff and will not stand for unacceptable behaviour.

“We have robust measures in place to deal with poor professional standards. We want the public to feel reassured and have full confidence that we will do our very best for them. We want victims to feel supported at every step.”