
Merseyside Police firearms officer sacked for secret lover visits
A four-day hearing at Merseyside Police Headquarters in Liverpool heard Sgt Ainsworth was the force's Tactical Firearms Advisor (TAC) when he was on duty. The role of a TAC is to offer senior officers advice and guidance around tactics when a firearms incident is declared.TACs did not need to be in the same physical location as the senior officers. The panel heard TACs were usually urged not to get "tied up" in other police activity like patrolling or making arrests.This meant there were hours when Sgt Ainsworth was able to slip away unnoticed from his base at Merseyside Police's Operational Command Centre (OCC) in Speke. The affair came to light when Officer A's boyfriend, also a serving constable, found out and told Sgt Ainsworth's wife, a senior detective who worked in the force's anti-corruption unit.
An audit of Sgt Ainsworth's police computer use found a lack of any action related to police work during the time he was at Officer A's property.He also admitted accessing a force computer system to check on Officer A's location, which he said was because he had been worried about her safety after she had raised concerns about being sent to "sketchy" jobs while on solo patrol.Officer A also admitted checking on Sgt Ainsworth's location on force systems. The panel heard that on one of the occasions she visited him, she was on a designated break period and was cleared of breaking any rules that day. However on another occasion, while Sgt Ainsworth was off duty, she drove in a patrol car to tell him her partner was planning to expose their affair to his wife. Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, who chaired the panel, said it accepted the two officers had not met to have sex and instead had wanted to offer each other "mutual support" when they were struggling with their mental health and personal issues. However, he said the visits were also to "further their personal relationship".
'World fell apart'
The senior officer said the visits had included a shift when Sgt Ainsworth had been involved in advising on a major incident.It was acknowledged, however, that he only left the OCC after firearms officers were stood down and there had been no criticism of his performance that night.Sgt Ainsworth told the panel his "world fell apart" when he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office in November 2023.A criminal prosecution was subsequently dropped. He claimed at the time he began seeing Officer A his mental health was suffering due to problems in his marriage and the impact of distressing incidents at work. Matthew Holdcroft, representing the force, told the panel Sgt Ainsworth's conduct was "deliberate" and involved an "abuse" of his role. Luke Ponte, representing Sgt Ainsworth, urged the panel to stop short of ending his client's 17-year policing career. "This was a grave error of judgement over some time but the public might be more forgiving of circumstances in which [the panel] found they were offering each other mutual support," he said. The panel's decision means Sgt Ainsworth's name has been added to the College of Policing's barred list, prohibiting him from working in any policing role. Det Ch Supt Sabi Kaur, head of the force's Professional Standards Department, described the behaviour of the two officers as "completely unacceptable" and said it risked "seriously undermining public confidence in policing".
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Female stalker lied about being pregnant and followed her ex to the gym before nearly running him over after they broke up
A woman who lied to her ex about being pregnant followed him to the gym and swerved her car into him after they broke up, a court heard. Sophie Clifford, 31, had been in an on-off relationship with the victim, but when it ended, she ignored his attempts to tell her not to contact him any more. Despite warnings that if she kept contacting him, he would go to the police, she continued sending messages, turned up at his home and left a bracelet with his name on it on his car. On January 27, she 'followed him to the gym' before she 'swerved into him' while he was walking with a friend, narrowly missing them both. In a statement read out in court, the victim wrote: 'I felt physically unsafe. She could cause me physical harm and I never thought she could do such a thing. 'I thought "Will other people be hurt by Sophie because of the quarrel we had?"' She has now been convicted of pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to the stalking and harassment of the victim by sending him numerous messages between December 28, 2024, and January 28, 2025. She appeared in the dock at Swindon Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to the offence in June. She appeared in the dock at Swindon Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to stalking and harassment of the victim by sending him numerous messages between December 28, 2024, and January 28, 2025 A Crown Prosecution Service representative said: 'Further messages asked him to unblock her and said she missed him. 'When she swerved into him, he was walking with another friend. The vehicle skimmed past and this caused both of them some fear that they would be hit. 'She accepted that she had lied about a pregnancy to get his attention.' The victim added in his statement that he has 'pushed people away' due to worries about what she may do. 'I'm worried about her coming back to my house and running into my dad, who is vulnerable,' he wrote. 'I feel on edge and am worried I'm being watched when talking to female friends, I would catch her looking at us. 'She messaged one of the girls I was seeing to sabotage my image. 'This has changed my personality, I feel miserable and I refuse to meet anyone new so that I can avoid this situation happening again. 'I have no motivation to create any romantic relations.' As part of Clifford's defence, two good character references praised her for being 'kind, caring, and thoughtful, with a gentle nature and desire for peace'. These references also mentioned difficult personal challenges she had faced during the relationship, which had led to issues with her mental wellbeing, and that she was seeking professional help to deal with these issues. Clifford also sent in a statement which read: 'I have not acted this way to anyone else. 'I've addressed my emotional wellbeing, I take full responsibility, and am actively making sure nothing like this happens again.' Harriet Heard, defending, said: 'She does not want any contact with him and has rearranged her life so she is no longer going to the same places. 'When she saw him in Asda, she dropped her basket and ran out of the building. 'It has been exceedingly traumatic for her as well, she does not want anything to do with him. 'There have been concerns over her mental health since the start of the relationship. 'It's the worst relationship of her life, it was toxic. 'She was love-bombed by him in the first instance, she was pinning everything on this relationship. It was not a healthy relationship.' Clifford received a 12-month community order that requires her to carry out up to 15 rehabilitation activity days and pay a £292 fine as well as £85 court costs plus £114 to fund victim services.


The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Epping hotel anti-migrant protests were organised by members of Neo-Nazi groups
Members of one of the UK's biggest Neo-Nazi groups have been involved in organising anti-migrant protests outside a hotel in Essex, which has led to 10 people being arrested. Two members of the far-right group Homeland can be seen as the administrators of Facebook page Epping Says No, a Facebook page with 1,500 members where the protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping have been organised. The Homeland Party was formed as a splinter group to the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative in April 2023, and has been described as the largest fascist group in the UK by Hope Not Hate. Two members of the party have since called on their social media pages for a 'national call to action', as the government fears another summer of unrest similar to last year when nationwide disorder broke out after three girls were stabbed to death in Southport. Essex Police has issued a dispersal order in Epping which will be in place from 2pm on Thursday until 8am on Friday, and covers an area including the town centre, transport hubs and networks such as the Tube station. The order gives officers the power to direct anyone suspected of committing anti-social behaviour, or planning to do so, to leave the area or face arrest. Dozens of anti-immigration protesters also descended on the Britannia hotel in Canary Wharf on Wednesday, after reports circulated on social media that it had been earmarked to house migrants. It has not yet received any asylum seekers, while it has been reported that the Home Office has reserved more than 400 beds at the four-star hotel. Counter-protesters from Stand Up to Racism have attended both Epping and Canary Wharf, with Essex Police forced to deny claims they had 'bussed' them to the demonstration on Sunday evening. Protests were first sparked outside the Bell Hotel nearly two weeks ago, after 38-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was accused of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl within days of arriving in the UK on a small boat. He denies the charges. Chairperson of the Police Federation, Tiff Lynch, wrote in The Telegraph that the disorder was 'not just a troubling one-off', adding: 'It was a signal flare. A reminder of how little it takes for tensions to erupt and how ill-prepared we remain to deal with it.' She said that local commanders across the country are forced to choose between 'keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps'. Ms Lynch said: 'A summer of further unrest is not inevitable. But it becomes far more likely if we once again fail to prepare.'


The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Great-grandparents who died after arson were ‘life and soul of the party'
Great-grandparents who died after an arson attack on their home were the 'life and soul of the party', their family has said. Police launched a murder investigation after Eric Greener, 77, and his partner Sheila Jackson, 83, died following the fire at their home in St Helens, Merseyside, in the early hours of July 15. In a tribute, their family said: 'Sheila and Eric, also known as our Queen and King, were a deeply loved mum, nan, great-Nan, sister, auntie, dad, step-dad, grandad, great-grandad, uncle and couple. 'They were known for being the life and soul of the party, always loving a song on the karaoke and enjoying a great caravan holiday. 'They will forever be devastatingly missed but eternally loved by their family, friends and the community.' Merseyside Police said an accelerant was used to start the blaze at the home on South John Street, where the couple had lived for 15 years. A 46-year-old man from Fazakerley remains in custody after he was arrested on suspicion of murder on Wednesday. A 31-year-old man from St Helens was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of murder and was conditionally bailed after questioning. Speaking earlier this week, Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson said: 'I know the community in St Helens is still feeling the shock and sadness of Eric and Sheila's tragic deaths. 'Our investigation team have been carrying out extensive inquiries into the incident and this second arrest demonstrates important progress is being made. 'We continue to ask the public to come forward with information, either directly to Merseyside Police or anonymously via Crimestoppers. 'If you have yet to come forward and recall seeing or hearing anything suspicious on or around South John Street around the time of the incident, please do not assume what you know has already been reported to us. 'Tell us what you know and we will assess all information as we build a full picture of what happened and ultimately seek to bring the perpetrators to justice.'