Disgraced cop had sex with student at Premier Inn while on bail for sexual assault

Paul Ledwith showed “no evidence of remorse, realization or acceptance of responsibility”

A disgraced police officer who sexually assaulted two women in Liverpool city center also breached his professional duties by having sex with a junior police officer. Paul Ledwith, 49, was a 15-year veteran of Merseyside Police when he was accused of groping two women in July and August 2020.

He denied the crimes but was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault following a trial at Manchester Crown Court in March 2021. A police misconduct hearing, which investigated Ledwith’s actions after the allegations came to light, was held at the Eaton Road Police Station. in May 2021. It concluded that the former police officer – responsible for training student police officers – committed serious misconduct by breaching his bail conditions and contacting a female police officer, with whom he later had sex at a Premier Inn hotel.

READ MORE: Police officer sexually assaulted two women in Liverpool city centerREAD MORE: His mother was terrified in her own home after what he told her in prison

A hearing report, published on 27 September, revealed that Ledwith had been given a regulation 17 investigation notice following an allegation of inappropriate behavior in May 2020. He was placed on restricted duties, with one restriction being “no contact for a medium with student officers” of a specific class.

In August 2020, he was arrested and released on bail on the condition that he “does not approach or communicate with any Merseyside Police student officers”. However, between May and August he continued to be in regular contact with a student officer, messaging her on WhatsApp and exchanging raunchy photos with her.

The report found that in July 2020, Ledwith met the student officer on two occasions in the parking lot of a pub, where they kissed and performed sexual acts. In August 2020, the pair visited the Premier Inn Southport where they had sex.

Ledwith continued to exchange messages with the officer, who ended the relationship on August 2, 2020. Ledwith blocked her online, but eight days later tried to contact her again using a fake name, Thomas Smith, on Facebook. He sent her more messages on August 11 and again on August 16, telling her, “I know I should text you and I’m the last person you want to talk to, but I just wanted to make sure you It’s okay and I miss you xx.”

In a witness statement, the student officer said Ledwith did not inform her of the charges against him until August 11, when he begged her “not to tell anyone that he contacted (her) while he was out on bail, as that would make her wife found out about the relationship and he would have nothing to live for.”

She said: “Ledwith said that if I told the PSD (Professional Standards Department) about him contacting me while he was on bail, it would really get him and me in trouble. I told Ledwith I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I may have put this in a message to him to stop him from having suicidal thoughts, but (I’m) not completely sure, I remember telling him that (I) would (delete) all of his messages from this day.”

She said Ledwith told her he would take his own life if he was accused of sexual assault. She added: “I really didn’t know what to do, I was upset, worried and worried and at the time I felt like I had no one to trust or get help from. I thought that if I went to the PSD then he would do something and, ultimately, I would be responsible for his death. Looking back, I was under pressure at the time as I didn’t know what the right thing to do was.

Cecily White, representing Merseyside Police, said: “PC Ledwith was well aware of the restriction and bail condition and took deliberate steps to breach them. Repeated behavior, sustained over a period of time – there was a breach of the restriction (imposed in May 2020) and breach of bail (imposed in August 2020) through sustained contact with PC (redacted) between May and August 2020.” She said Ledwith “flagrantly violated the restrictions placed on him” and showed “no evidence of remorse, understanding or acceptance of responsibility.”

The panel concluded that Ledwith’s behavior constituted serious misconduct, having breached the standards of professional behavior: honesty and integrity, orders and instructions, and discreditable conduct. On its website, Merseyside Police said: “If the officer had still been serving, he would have been dismissed without notice and placed on the College of Policing’s banned list.”