Police officer who had sex with drunk woman in patrol car after offering her a lift home avoids jail

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An on-duty police officer who had sex in a patrol car with a drunk woman he offered to take home has narrowly avoided jail.

Pc Matthew Longmate, 47, and a Derbyshire Constabulary colleague had sex with the woman after she was was ejected from a Chesterfield nightclub in October 2015.

Handing him a 12-month suspended prison sentence, Judge Christopher Hehir told Longmate he had decided to be “very lenient” and would not be sending him to jail.

At his sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Hehir said the former officer decided to have sex with the woman in a “moment of madness” but had been encouraged to do so by his “serial offender” colleague Daniel Nash, who instigated the sexual encounter.

Longmate was found guilty of a single count of misconduct in public office after a trial at the same court in November.

Nash pleaded guilty to 14 counts of the same offence and was spared a lengthy prison spell in August before dying of cancer a month later.

Longmate, who the court was told had a “stellar career” before the incident, has now been dismissed from the force.

The married father of two young children had previously been praised for saving the life of a vulnerable woman in the line of duty, the court was told.

In 2015, Longmate had been on uniform duty with Nash in Chesterfield town centre.

While parked in a marked police car, the pair became aware of a woman who had been thrown out of nightclub, the court was told.

Judge Hehir said: “She was drunk.

“You and Nash offered her a lift home. At some point, sexual activity took place.

“Nash had penetrative sex with her and she performed oral sex on you.”

The incident did not come to light until 2020, the court was told, when the “vulnerable” woman made a complaint to police after Nash tried to have sex with her again.

The court was told Longmate’s attempts to pin the blame on his colleague had “back-fired spectacularly” when Nash identified him as the other officer involved.

Judge Hehir told Longmate his actions amounted to a “very grave betrayal of trust” and had left the woman “humiliated”.

The former officer was handed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for a year.

He was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay legal costs of £3,500.

Independent Office for Police Conduct director of operations Steve Noonan said: “I welcome the sentencing today which demonstrates this type of offence is rightly taken seriously.

“We are clear that such conduct has no place in policing.

“Pc Longmate targeted a lone woman who was in a vulnerable position in a town centre late at night.

“She should have felt safe in this situation but instead he and his colleague abused their position as police officers in a way that is a complete betrayal of the public trust placed in them.”

Commenting after Longmate’s guilty verdict in November, Derbyshire Constabulary Deputy Chief Constable Simon Blatchly said he was “deeply shocked and angered by his actions”.

“Longmate not only failed to protect, but actively sought to abuse his position while on patrol,” he said.

“If you know of any officer or staff member who is behaving in a manner that does not fit their role as a member of Derbyshire Constabulary, then I would urge you to contact the force.”