A police officer has been jailed after having a secret relationship with a known burglar and removing his monitoring tag so that he could visit her home without being traced.
Natasha Conneely was sentenced to 18 months in prison at St Albans Crown Court, after pleading guilty to a charge of corrupt or improper exercise of police powers and privileges.
Police warned that her actions had “risked undermining the entire offender management system” and “had real potential to leave the offender free to further offend”.
Conneely was found in May 2023 to have started a relationship with the known burglar while working as part of the offender management unit at Bedfordshire Police.
The force said it had investigated and found messages between the pair, and that Conneely had removed the offender’s electronic tag in April so he could visit her home without being traced.
Afterwards, Conneely would check the systems to ensure their whereabouts had not been tracked, the force said.
It was later discovered the pair had spent the night together in a hotel in Leeds in June.
Conneely was charged with corrupt or other improper exercise of police powers and privileges, in breach of Section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.
Bedfordshire Police said Conneely resigned from the force and a November 2023 tribunal found her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.
The tribunal ruled that Conneely would have been dismissed had she not already quit, and she was put on the College of Policing’s Barred List, banning her from returning to policing.
Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said: “Natasha Conneely was part of a team responsible for the monitoring and management of offenders who are in our community.
“The team manages the risk of these individuals through tagging and other means to deter reoffending and assist their rehabilitation into society.
“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.
“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.
“There is simply no place in policing for anyone who behaves in such a way.”
Additional reporting by PA
