Married British community cop 'used police computers as dating agency to strike up affairs with vulnerable women and had sex with victims on duty'

A police community support officer used the police database ‘as a dating agency’ to have affairs with single mothers and domestic abuse victims while on duty, a court heard.

Peter Bunyan accessed inside information to do background checks on women and their ex-partners after ‘welfare’ visits to victims of crime, it is alleged.

He is accused of neglecting his duties by turning his police radio off on shifts before having sex with women, including at a neighbourhood police office.

He is alleged to have urged a mentally ill woman to email explicit pictures of herself to the police station.

Married Bunyan, 40, a father of two, denies 12 counts of misconduct in a public office over a five-year period.

Prosecutor Simon Burns told Taunton Crown Court yesterday: ‘If he was not in uniform or on duty, there would not be a trial. ‘But if on duty or in his uniform he should have been at work but he was in bed with somebody, he was not exercising his proper role as a police officer. ’

Bunyan, of Carharrack, Cornwall, admits he had sex with four women but said it was off duty. He denies sex with a fifth woman. All five say the sex was consensual.

Mr Burns said of Bunyan’s use of the police database: ‘You do not use the criminal intelligence system as a dating agency.’

Peter Bunyan, an officer with Devon and Cornwall Police, is alleged to have accessed highly sensitive police data to perform background checks on women and their former partners after so-called 'welfare' visits to victims of crime.

He is accused of neglecting his duties by turning his police radio down on shifts before having sex with women, including at a police neighbourhood office, as well as encouraging one mentally ill woman to send explicit pictures of herself on email to the police station.

Bunyan, a father-of-two, denies 12 counts of misconduct in a public office, taking place over a five-year period in the Camborne and Redruth areas of west Cornwall.

The case is being held at Taunton Crown Court, Somerset, out of the Devon and Cornwall Police force area.

Prosecutor Simon Burns told the jury: 'This is not a court of morals. You will hear all sorts of sordid details in relation to this case.

'He (Bunyan) has abused his position as a police officer by targeting women - targeting vulnerable women - and conducting inappropriate sexual relationships with them while on duty.

'He has behaved, while on duty as a police officer, inappropriately and unprofessionally.

'Not only was he in his full uniform... but occasionally even turned down or off his police radio.'

Mr Burns said Bunyan had sex with women at various locations, including at a neighbourhood police office.

Bunyan also accessed the police database, where he was able to find highly personal details about people in the community, including the women he targeted, the court heard.

Mr Burns added: 'He used that confidential information, which is not allowed to be simply looked at by a police officer, unless they have a lawful reason for doing so.

'You don’t look up somebody simply to be nosy, to look at where they live, to look for their telephone numbers. He abused the police computer system to his own advantage. 'You do not use the criminal intelligence system as a dating agency.'

Mr Burns said the public expected PSCOs such as Bunyan to protect them on the streets, 'not to be in bed with them'.

Mr Burns said Bunyan’s first affair was with a woman who had some mental health issues.

She was later sectioned under the Mental Health Act. The woman previously had reason to call the police following a dispute with someone.

Another woman struck up a relationship with Bunyan after he went to her home to take a witness statement when she was a victim of domestic violence.

But the statement took “an inordinate amount of time to complete”, the court heard. Bunyan then started to ask the woman intimate questions about her body.

The couple developed a relationship, which in one case saw Bunyan collect the single mother from a firework display and take her to a neighbourhood police office where they had sex. The woman said Bunyan had been on duty - something Mr Burns said the PCSO later admitted.

Bunyan is said to have “encouraged” the women to post naked pictures of themselves - some pornographic - to his local police station.

Colleagues of the PCSO told the jury how he “clearly appreciated” the images, which were sent on CDs and viewed by Bunyan on the police computer at Redruth police station.

PCSO Karen Moreley, who worked with Bunyan for a year, said he was sent images of naked women regularly. She told the jury: 'There were topless images and images using mirrors. 'He clearly appreciated these images and would laugh and joke and check the mail to see if any discs arrived. 'I found him quite forthcoming to women, quite creepy and unprofessional.'

Bunyan admits having sex with four women, who include single mothers, women in their 20s, and victims of domestic abuse, but said it was off duty.

Bunyan denies 12 counts of misconduct in a public office and his trial, expected to last up to three weeks, continues.

The officer has been suspended by Devon and Cornwall police.

Original report here



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