The six officers all failed to act on a woman’s repeated rape allegations when they attended a flat in Nottingham city centre

Nottinghamshire Police’s headquarters in Sherwood Lodge Drive, Nottinghamshire(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)

Six Nottinghamshire Police officers have committed gross misconduct as they failed to investigate a woman’s rape allegations.

The six officers, PC Daniel Mitchell, PC Jake Self, PC George Ginger, PC Lucie Willett and two police constables, whose identities are protected by reporting restrictions, attended the flat at 1.45am on January 1, following reports a woman would not leave the address and had assaulted someone inside the property.

Once at the scene, officers found the woman in bed with a man, naked from the waist down, with two other men sat in the room, all of them intoxicated.

The woman made repeated claims that she had been raped by the three men in the room, however they were not arrested and the officers did not record any allegation of rape on the police log.

Instead, the woman was arrested on suspicion of “breach of the peace,” despite a number of the officers being aware she was repeatedly claiming she had been raped.

Whilst the officers were in attendance, she also claimed she had been “battered” and stated her genitalia felt sore due to the alleged rape.

Yet, after being led into the property’s hallway and being ‘de-arrested,’ she was eventually left to walk alone through Nottingham city centre, on what has been described as the ‘busiest night’ of the year for incidents.

On January 6, the woman got back in touch with police about a different incident and the rape allegations were “properly progressed”.

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Hooks chaired a misconduct hearing into the actions of the six officers at the force headquarters at Sherwood Lodge and returned his findings on Thursday, March 26.

He said: “Had any of the officers attended alone or in a pair, it is the panel’s view that the outcome of Female A may have been more positive.

“That’s because, having attended en masse, none of the officers took charge and this resulted in a chaotic situation to the detriment of Female A.

“However, that does not diminish the responsibility of each officer to take action after hearing Female A’s allegations of rape.”

The hearing was previously told that the officers’ failure was due to burnout, but the chair noted none of the officers involved had sought any support from their supervisors.

He said: “All of the officers reported for duty and the expectation of the public is that they were fit to do so.”

PC D, one of the officers whose identity is protected due to mental health reasons, would have been dismissed if he was still serving.

The panel noted his neurodiversity diagnosis but concluded PC D was fully culpable for his actions on the night of the incident.

ACC Hooks explained PC D was “an active participant as he was in the bedroom and was fully aware of Female A’s vulnerability”.

PC E, the second officer whose identity was anonymised by the force, did not interact directly with the alleged rape victim but ACC Hooks concluded he did hear the allegations made by her and should have safeguarded her.

The officer, who was the most experienced of the six, previously rejected hearing the allegations.

The panel also took into consideration PC E’s neurodiversity but found him fully culpable for his actions as he “did nothing” when he heard the allegations

Like PC D, he would’ve been dismissed without notice if he hadn’t already resigned.

PC Lucie Willett was “the most engaged with Female A” out of the six officers, with ACC Hooks saying in his conclusion that the officers “persistently treated” the alleged victim in a disrespectful manner.

The female officer also victim-blamed Female A, telling her “you were quite happy to stay there”, and “completely disregarded” the allegations made directly to her.

Body-worn footage showed the alleged victim stating she was raped while PC Willett kept repeating “trousers” in order to urge the victim to put on trousers.

She was found fully culpable for her actions and ACC Hooks explained the former officer caused Female A significant psychological distress by making her dress up in front of the alleged perpetrators.

The officer previously rejected that she treated the victim without dignity and respect, explaining that she gave the alleged victim a sheet to cover herself with.

ACC Hooks said this action went “nowhere near” giving Female A dignity and respect.

PC Willett would have also been dismissed without notice if she was still serving.

PC George Ginger heard Female A’s allegations as he was in the room, close to her, when these were made.

Despite this, the “relatively inexperienced but fully qualified” officer arrested her for breaching the peace, causing her more distress.

He also claimed that he wasn’t trained to deal with rape cases but his training records showed he attended five sessions on how to approach such incidents.

He would have also been dismissed if he was still serving.

PC Daniel Mitchell attended this afternoon’s conclusion and was dismissed without notice.

ACC Hooks told the hearing that PC Mitchell did not fully enter the bedroom and had “lost interest in the job, going up and down the corridor” while PC Willett dealt with Female A.

The hearing was told PC Mitchell had recognised Female A from a previous incident where she had alleged she was raped and, when she told him her genitalia hurt due to the rape, he rolled his eyes.

ACC Hook said that, while PC Mitchell took a passive role in the response to the incident, this didn’t make his conduct any less serious.

His neurodiversity was also taken into account but ACC Hook concluded that a final written warning would have been insufficient given the severity of his misconduct, which saw him break standards of integrity.

PC Jake Self was the only officer to give oral evidence to the panel and was dismissed without notice.

ACC Hook explained PC Self was in the bedroom early during the response to the incident and passed the alleged victim some trousers before escorting one of the men – Male B – to the kitchen to speak to him.

Still, he heard the allegations and did nothing, for which he was found fully culpable.

He also watched body-worn footage from the incident the next day and continued to claim that, even when watching the footage, he didn’t hear the alleged victim’s claims.

Of all six officers, ACC Hook said PC Self was the only one who showed some initiative by taking Male B to the kitchen.

All six officers’ actions “eroded public confidence in the police”, ACC Hook said.

ACC Hooks said: “The six officers in this case should have shown the victim dignity, compassion and respect. They all failed in their duties that night.

“There is absolutely no excuse for why these officers acted the way they did, and they have now all been dealt with accordingly.

“Their actions have the potential to undermine the public’s trust in us when reporting serious crimes such as rape and have far-reaching consequences. This cannot be allowed to happen.

“I want to be absolutely clear with the public that we have excellent officers across our organisation who work with victims of rape and serious sexual assaults every day to ensure they are given the support they need and that perpetrators are held to account.

“All of that great work was undermined by the disgraceful conduct of these officers that night.”

Following the hearing, Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Gary Godden explained he will seek reassurance that incidents like this don’t happen again.

He said: “I am horrified by the attitudes displayed by the officers when responding to this incident and I am frankly furious that anyone wearing the Nottinghamshire Police badge could dismiss a disclosure of rape and not take it seriously.

“It is absolutely unacceptable for officers to fail to act when any member of the public reports a crime, and unfathomable that they should do so when the allegation is as serious as rape.

“They clearly failed in their duty and have quite rightly been dismissed.”

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Angela Kandola, strategic lead for preventing Violence Against Women and Girls, added: “Victims deserve absolute confidence that they will be heard and supported every step of the way

“Sadly, incidents like this can be incredibly damaging to that trust and it is important to make it clear that anyone who behaves in this way while representing Nottinghamshire Police will be shown the door, with no second chance. It’s as simple as that.