Greater Manchester Police officer who had sex with vulnerable woman made 'unforgivable mistake'

A former police officer and father-of-two who had sex with a vulnerable woman while on duty has been jailed.

Shamraze Arshad, who worked as a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer in Longsight, met the woman after he and a fellow officer were called out to her student accommodation in south Manchester in Autumn 2020.

The woman was reportedly suicidal, and Arshad submitted a care plan for her after she was taken to hospital before finishing his shift, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, told the court "that should have been the end of the matter", but later that morning, Arshad used his police phone to find her personal details and called her just a few hours after she had been taken to hospital.

The 38-year-old officer asked her to go on a date, and eventually "began an intimate and ultimately sexual relationship with this vulnerable young woman whom he met in crisis".

Arshad, from Bolton, has now been jailed for four years after being found guilty of misconduct in public office on Thursday 13 June.

The court heard how the investigation began in July 2021 after a routine audit check by GMP's Professional Standards Directorate (PSD).The check found Arshad had been using police systems while off-duty and without a policing purpose. The probe then revealed he had been 'making a large volume of contact' with a particular number from his work phone.

This number was linked back to the vulnerable young woman. It was then uncovered that Arshad had been having sex with the victim while on duty.Mr Baxter said: "Far detached from the knight in shining armour she initially thought he was, we suggest that she was selected by him because of those very vulnerabilities which caused him to first meet her and that he abused his position as a serving police officer, gaining her trust, in order to sleep with her.

"His concern was not her wellbeing, but rather his own sexual desires."

The woman described the relationship as being a "friends with benefits" situation, in which he would would come round for 15 to 20 minutes for a "fun time in bed". She ended the relationship after seven months.

Arshad was then arrested and suspended on 19 July 2021 and released on bail on condition not to contact the woman in any way - but he immediately went to her home and woke her by banging on her window.

The frightened woman hid in the bathroom and called the police. He was arrested the following day for attempting to pervert the course of justice and later charged.

During the trial, Arshad denied ever having sex with the woman.

The jury of three women and nine men took just 75 minutes to find him guilty. He shook his head and repeatedly muttered 'oh my god' as their verdict was delivered in court.

Arshad was also convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice and unauthorised access to the police computer at a trial last summer.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the misconduct offence leading to a re-trial.

Following his four-year prison sentence on 14 June 2024, bosses at Greater Manchester Police's have described him as a 'disgrace to the police service'.

Arshad was sacked from the force in January 2024, and police chiefs will now write to the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester to ask that he loses his police pension.

Following his sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Jones, of GMP's Professional Standards Directorate, said: "I want to thank the courageous woman in this case for providing us with the evidence that was so important in ensuring that Arshad is rightly held accountable for the full extent of his crimes.

"He abused his position as a police officer to pursue a sexual relationship with a vulnerable woman who he was supposed to protect in her time of need."This is an unforgivable breach of policing standards and it’s right he will never be trusted to wear a police uniform again.

"Arshad’s jail term is fully deserved. He is a disgrace to the police service and does not represent the thousands of professional, honest, hard-working police officers across Greater Manchester who continue to protect the public each and every day."As soon as we were legally able to, we sacked Arshad and, now that criminal proceedings have been concluded, we will invite the Deputy Mayor to strip him of his police pension."

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