A police officer who removed a burglar’s electronic tag so she could have a secret sexual relationship with him has been jailed.
Natasha Conneely was part of a Bedfordshire Police unit responsible for offender management in May 2023 when the relationship was discovered.
The force said its professional standards department found messages between the pair.
An investigation revealed Conneely had removed the offender’s electronic tag in April so he could visit her home without being traced, then checked the systems to ensure his whereabouts hadn’t been tracked.
Conneely was also found to have spent the night with the burglar in a hotel in Leeds in June.
She admitted a charge of corrupt or other improper exercise of police powers and privileges, in breach of Section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.
She was jailed for 18 months at St Albans Crown Court on Friday.
Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said: “There is simply no place in policing for anyone who behaves in such a way.”
He said Conneely was part of a team responsible for managing the risk of offenders “through tagging and other means to deter reoffending and assist their rehabilitation into society”.
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“Becoming involved in a sexual relationship with such an offender was totally inappropriate and her actions to allow them to spend time together undetected were entirely selfish and had real potential to leave the offender free to further offend with no safeguards in place,” Mr Rodenhurst said.
“The evidence of their communication, in my view, demonstrates she entered this relationship and course of conduct of her own free will and her conduct falls far below the standard the public rightly expect.
“Her actions risked undermining the entire offender management system and she let down multiple colleagues and departments who work together to keep our communities safe.
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Bedfordshire Police said Conneely resigned from the force and a November 2023 tribunal found her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and ruled she would have been dismissed had she not already quit.
Conneely was put on the College of Policing’s Barred List, banning her from returning to policing.
