Former Cambridgeshire officer charged with multiple criminal offences

A former Cambridgeshire Constabulary officer has been charged with a raft of criminal offences following our directed investigation.

The former officer, who we cannot name at this time for legal reasons, is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 29 April to face the following charges:

• assault occasioning actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice - relating to an incident where the former officer allegedly struck and injured a man during an arrest and his actions following the event,
• two counts of misconduct in public office – relating to their actions following the detention of a 17-year-old in custody including allegedly making and sharing a threatening video, and a separate incident where they allegedly requested personal and sensitive material from a colleague who had obtained the material from the phone of a member of the public without a policing purpose,
• two counts under the Data Protection Act – relating to allegedly sharing personal and sensitive material about two individuals to a member of the public

A serving Cambridgeshire officer, Joshua Williams, aged 37, is also due to appear in court on the same date charged with misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice. These relate to the officer allegedly sharing personal and sensitive material obtained from the phone of a member of the public without a policing purpose and his actions following the incident.

The alleged offending occurred between January 2020 and February 2023.

Our directed investigation began in October 2022 and was carried out by Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire's professional standards department under our direction and control.

In March 2024, we decided to refer a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised the charges.