Police inspector guilty of misconduct for groping two teenage girls
A police inspector who "abused his position of trust" when he inappropriately touched two teenagers 20 years ago has been sacked.
Humberside Police Inspector Craig Mattinson, now 47, was found guilty of gross misconduct on Thursday at a police disciplinary hearing in Goole, East Yorkshire, by a panel that said he carried out the abuse "with a motive of sexual gratification".
The four-day-long hearing was told by two women, now in their 30s, that Mattinson touched them in a sexual way when they were 14 and 17, as they shared a flat in Hull.
The younger woman, Miss A, said the officer touched her bottom and grasped her breast over her clothes when he visited the flat in full uniform in about 2004.
The other complainant, Miss B, said he touched her inappropriately and kissed her when he drove her to his house in Hull, where they had a pizza delivered and drank wine.
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Mattinson, who joined Humberside Police in 1997, denied all the allegations against him, telling the hearing: "It never happened."
The officer has been dismissed without notice (Getty Images/iStockphoto)On Thursday, the panel of two civilians and a police superintendent found the allegations proven, and ruled that he should be dismissed without notice.
Panel chairwoman Eileen Herlihy told the hearing that the panel "preferred the evidence of Miss A and Miss B and found their accounts to be credible".
Ms Herlihy said the relationship between the officer and the two teenagers had been "unprofessional, sexual and inappropriate" and his actions were "especially serious with a motive of sexual gratification".
She pointed out how the officer had received two warnings early in his career, before the incidents with Miss A and Miss B, which related to "similar circumstances".
The first dated to 2001 when Mattinson was caught talking to a 15-year-old girl in an internet chat room, although he claimed he thought she was an adult.
Two years later, the officer had a "one-night-stand" with a woman he met after she was the victim of a burglary.
Olivia Checa-Dover, who presented the case against the officer, told the hearing: "The panel will struggle to find a topic of greater scale and depth of public concern than the way police officers treat women and girls."
Earlier this week, Miss A told the hearing Mattinson began texting her after she first met him around 2003, when she was regularly in trouble with the police; mainly for shoplifting.
The woman, who became upset a number of times during her evidence, recalled him texting that he wanted to watch her get "stoned" as she wore a miniskirt.
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She said the officer came to the flat where she was living and sat talking to her, as she and her friends smoked cannabis, before touching her on her bottom and grasping her breast as he left.
The woman said: "He just had a smirk on his face."
Miss B told the hearing how she was confused when she thought she was going on a date with Mattinson, when she was 17, but he took her to his house.
She said he was "extremely touchy-feely as soon as we got into the car. He wanted to touch me and his hands were going towards my groin area".
The woman said she drank wine and ate pizza at Mattinson's house but he was "extremely persistent".
She told the panel: "I remember his tongue was down the back of my throat a lot. I was quite relieved when the pizza arrived."
She said she believed the officer would have gone further but she did not let it happen and he drove her home.
The woman got upset and wiped away tears as she recalled getting ready for what she thought was a date with the officer.
"I feel like an idiot, if I'm honest," she said. "I just cringe."
Mattinson was at the hearing on Friday morning but left before his dismissal was announced.
Head of Professional Standards for Humberside Police, Detective Superintendent Andrew Maultby, said: "I do not underestimate the damage Mattinson's actions will have caused, not only to the vulnerable girls at the time and to their lives, but to the communities we serve who need to feel they can trust and have confidence in the police."
Mr Maultby praised the two women who came forward and said: "We will not condone or accept any form of sexual abuse or violence against women and girls within Humberside Police and we will always take action and hold those responsible to account."
He said: "Mattinson completely abused his position of trust and took advantage of two vulnerable young girls. His discreditable conduct and behaviour didn't just breach the standards of professionalism, it was utterly condemnable and unforgivable."
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