Former police officer who stalked colleague banned

A former police officer who stalked a female colleague has been barred from the profession.

John Clough, who resigned from Leicestershire Police in March, was jailed for 22 months and handed a restraining order at Northampton Crown Court in August, after admitting stalking and computer misuse.

The 51-year-old, of High Street, Desford, Leicestershire, continuously messaged his victim and went to incidents she attended without being needed between 2022 and 2023.

At a misconduct hearing in September, Chief Constable Rob Nixon ruled the former officer should be placed on the barred list.

In a hearing report, Clough's behaviour was described as "deliberate, intentional and targeted", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Despite being informed of the harm he had been causing and apologising for it, Clough continued his offending.

The report added his actions would not only have had a significant impact on the victim - who is still a serving police officer - but would have also further impacted public confidence in the force.

Clough's use of police systems to facilitate his offending was considered a further aggravating factor by the force, according to the report.

He had served in the force for more than 15 years, and received "various acknowledgements" during that time, the LDRS said.

However, Mr Nixon ruled that neither Clough's past service, nor his early guilty plea, could be considered as mitigation in the case, due to the serious nature of the misconduct.

He concluded Clough's conduct undermined the reputation of the force and he would have been dismissed without notice had he still been a serving officer.

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