A senior police instructor who slept with a new recruit and assaulted other young recruits in the “pursuit of sex” has been suspended.
PC Peter Miller used his senior position at Northumbria Police to subject nine female trainees to “repeated and relentless” inappropriate behavior, a misconduct hearing was told.
The father-of-one, who had more than 20 years of police experience, invited the recruits to his home, some of whom took the offer as an “invitation to sexual activity.”
The disciplinary hearing heard how Miller sent unsolicited text messages to student officers and made late-night calls to one new recruit.
He told one intern she was a “special girl,” remarked that another “wore nice leggings,” and invited others to his home to “play charades,” it was said.
Miller was found to have twice abused his position and twice had consensual sex with a student officer at his home, leaving her “manipulated, frustrated and taken advantage of.”
He also reportedly chatted with another recruit on a dating site and suggested he would be “fired” if police found out.
Assistant Chief Constable Alastair Simpson concluded the disgraced officer “acted with malice for sexual gratification.”
PC Peter Miller had sex with a recruit, told another she was his “special girl” and said one of them had “nice leggings”.
He said: “Constable Miller’s conduct involved sexual indecency.
“This behavior was predatory behavior motivated by a desire to establish inappropriate sexual relationships with junior colleagues.”
The hearing in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, was told that Miller was highly respected by his superiors as a trainer of young police officers.
However, he was found to have used his position to contact female students with the “intent of establishing a sexual relationship.”
One young officer said Miller’s behavior made her feel “uncomfortable,” “scared” and “almost humiliated.”
Another told investigators: “We were vulnerable at the time. We were going through training, we were new to the role and there was real peer pressure.”
Miller resigned from Northumbria Police last week, days before a disciplinary panel could sack him for gross misconduct.
The disciplinary body ruled that Miller would have been fired if he were still serving and ordered his name to be added to the list of banned police officers.
Miller resigned from Northumbria Police, but a misconduct panel ruled he would have been sacked if he were still serving.
Mr Simpson said: “The officer’s conduct was deliberate, premeditated, directed at female student officers and formed part of a pattern of repeated behaviour.”
Miller was not present or represented at the disciplinary hearing. He previously claimed his messages to trainees were merely “friendly” and claimed his sexual encounter with one of the women was “consensual.”
Olivia Checa Dover, prosecuting the case, said he abused his position by sleeping with a much more junior colleague while head coach of her group.
The hearing was told he began sending the woman messages on her personal number two months after she began police training.
Ms Cheka Dover said: “Once she found out about his wider reputation she felt manipulated, as if she was the weak one he had chosen.
“We’re not saying it wasn’t a consensual relationship. But in the context of him being a coach, in a very short period of time they met, kissed, had sex, and then he lost interest in her.
“It was foreseeable that she would end up feeling that way.”
The disciplinary panel heard Miller was warned about his behavior towards trainees in November 2021.
He was ultimately found to have violated professional standards by behaving inappropriately toward recruits and engaging in an intimate relationship with a student officer between September 2020 and January 2021.
He has been cleared of breaking Covid rules by having sex with a woman during lockdown.
Mr Simpson concluded: “On the balance of probability, Constable Miller sent messages to the student officers on a number of occasions with the intention of engaging in sexual relations.”
He added: “The police are highly trusted and the public expect them to do the right thing.
“It is also important to send a clear message about the standards expected of officers and to deter others from engaging in similar behavior.
“The most appropriate conclusion is that the officer would have been terminated.”