Former Cambridgeshire officer would have been dismissed over relationship with teen girl

A former Cambridgeshire police officer, who formed an inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl, who was in a vulnerable position, and failed to take appropriate safeguarding action, would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving.

The gross misconduct hearing for former PC Neil Woodley, who was previously based at Huntingdon Police Station, was held on 1 September with a disciplinary panel finding that allegations against him were proven at gross misconduct level.

The hearing followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

We found that between June 2022 and April 2023, Woodley formed and maintained an inappropriate personal relationship with a girl who was in a vulnerable position. He met her through his policing duties, and she was known to police because of her history of mental health difficulties.

Woodley attended incidents involving her in his role as a response officer. After obtaining her contact details for a policing purpose, he used them to communicate with her in a personal capacity.

Messages exchanged between the pair became increasingly personal just before her 18th birthday with Woodley using inappropriate terms of endearment and discussing meeting socially.

He would call her ‘hun,’ signed off messages with kisses (“x” and “xx”) and he wrote: “If I was 20 years younger, I would genuinely ask you out for a drink” and repeatedly offered her a “hug”.

The hearing also found that Woodley failed to discharge his duties and responsibilities by not taking appropriate safeguarding action after receiving messages from the girl in which she disclosed welfare issues. Despite repeated opportunities to seek support on her behalf or share information through appropriate channels, he failed to do so.

The matter came to light in April 2023 following concerns raised by a friend of the girl about the nature of the contact between her and Woodley.

We began an investigation that month following a mandatory conduct referral from Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

The misconduct panel found that Woodley had breached the police standards of professional behaviour relating to duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct. It concluded he would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving and the policing barred list is to be updated to reflect the outcome of this hearing.

IOPC director of engagement Emily Barry said: "The public rightly expect police officers to maintain professional boundaries and safeguard vulnerable people they encounter through their duties.

"Former PC Woodley's actions represented a serious breach of the standards expected of police officers. He developed an inappropriate personal relationship with a child in a vulnerable position that he met through his role and failed to take appropriate action when she disclosed serious welfare concerns.

"Officers hold positions of trust and must always act with integrity and professionalism. Where they fail to do so and abuse their position, they will be held to account.”

On conclusion of our investigation, we also sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service which charged him under section 170 of the Data Protection Act (2018) for knowingly or recklessly retaining personal data without consent. On 4 April 2025, he pleaded guilty at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court and was fined £957.

Following his sentencing, in July 2025 he faced an accelerated misconduct hearing organised by the force, where he was dismissed with immediate effect for discreditable conduct as a result of his criminal conviction.