Bedfordshire police officer removed tag for sexual relationship

A police officer who removed a burglar’s tag so she could have a sexual relationship with him has been jailed.

Natasha Conneely, of Kempston in Bedfordshire, admitted to a charge of corruption or other improper exercise of police powers and privileges and was sentenced to 18 months in prison at St Albans Crown Court on Friday.

The 31-year-old had been working for Bedfordshire Police’s offender management unit in May 2023 when it was discovered she had started a relationship with a known burglar.

An investigation by the force’s professional standards department found she had removed his monitored offender’s tag so he could visit her home undetected.

Afterwards she checked the system to see if their whereabouts had been captured.

It was later discovered they had spent a night together in a hotel in Leeds in June 2023.

Conneely’s team was responsible for managing offenders in the community with tagging and other methods designed to deter reoffending.

Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said: “Becoming involved in a sexual relationship with such an offender was totally inappropriate

“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. “

Conneely resigned from the force after she was charged.

A police hearing in November 2023 found her behaviour amounted to “gross misconduct for discreditable conduct and honesty and integrity” and ruled she would have been dismissed had she not resigned.

She was placed on the College of Policing’s barred list, meaning she cannot return to policing.