Lee Pollard & Sharon Patterson [2019] EWCA Crim 1638

The two appellants were police officers; Pollard was convicted of two counts of misconduct in public office and Patterson of one. Pollard was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment and Patterson to 18 months.

Failings were found in investigations conducted by members of the Child Abuse Investigation Team North (NCAIT) in Essex Police. There were known staffing issues in the team, and the situation was described as critical by some.
The appellants were charged with dishonestly manipulating investigations for which they were responsible with the consequence that the investigations were brought to a premature end.

It was submitted on behalf of Patterson that although the case passed the custody threshold it was so exceptional and the personal mitigation was such that the sentence could have been suspended.

On behalf of Pollard, several grounds were advanced, including that insufficient weight was given to the failures of management in the day to day running of the NCAIT and the impact on daily working life. The consequences for both appellants had been severe.

Held: it was understood why the appeals were before the Court, but such offences are always serious, whatever the motivation of the offender, any sentence must be a punishment and also a deterrent.

The appeals were dismissed.