Northamptonshire police sergeant’s lies over secret relationship with co-worker leads to ‘sacking’

A former Northamptonshire Police Sergeant who kept secret his relationship with a co-worker and lied to get confidential information about them would have been sacked if he had not already left the force.

A disciplinary panel held on Tuesday (May 3) heard Matt Manifold tricked a lower-ranking officer into accessing details about the co-worker and her former partner.

Manifold also attended an incident involving the co-worker despite a senior officer warning him NOT to get involved in any investigation involving this person.

The panel decided the Sergeant breached standards of professional behaviour in respect of confidentiality, orders and instructions, discreditable conduct, authority respect, courtesy, honesty and integrity adding that he would have been instantly dismissed had he still been a serving officer.

A ruling published by the force on Thursday (May 5) said: “Honesty and integrity are fundamental to any police officer and the culpability and harm in this case is high.

“This was an officer of considerable experience who for an extended period was deliberately dishonest and lacking in integrity.

"He concealed something that should have been revealed at the earliest stage thus potentially prejudicing the integrity of a criminal investigation.”

Details of the case previously published by Northamptonshire Police revealed: “PS Manifold misled colleagues about a personal relationship he had with a co-worker in order to gain access to information about live police investigations under the pretext that he was providing management welfare.

“PS Manifold asked a police constable to access and research recent occurrences relating to the co-worker, indicating that he was due to be updated by a detective.

"This implicitly represented that he was entitled to access this information, when he was not.

“PS Manifold accessed confidential force systems and researched information relating to the colleague with whom he was in a relationship, her former partner and another work colleague.

“He failed to be open and honest in his dealings with colleagues involved in investigations by trying to obtain information and he was not open and honest with them about the nature of his relationship

“PS Manifold’s attendance at the home address of a co-worker he was in a personal relationship with whilst on duty in August 2021 was inappropriate.”