Detective who made 'litany of mistakes' during six investigations is found guilty of gross misconduct

A misconduct panel ruled yesterday that Detective Constable Philip Payton would have been dismissed from the force if he had not already resigned, after an investigation found he had mismanaged six cases between 2015 and 2017.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said his “litany of mistakes” had a "devastating impact” on the victims and their families and they could have “resulted in serious crimes going unpunished”.

During one case, officers seized electronic devices belonging to a suspected rapist and they were believed to contain indecent images of children.

But he returned them to the suspect in June 2016, without conducting a thorough search for the images, and lied to his superiors when they questioned the decision.

During another investigation, into allegations that a woman had stolen money from her vulnerable parents in 2015, he failed to manage the case material adequately and pursue relevant lines of enquiry.

He also failed to conduct an adequate investigation into allegations of sexual assault in 2015 or keep the victim updated and he did not submit files to the Crown Prosecution Service.

During both of those cases in 2015, no arrests were made until concerns were raised about his competence and other detectives were brought in to lead the investigations.

The IOPC launched an investigation after Humberside Police raised concerns about six of his investigations. He answered 'no comment' when he was questioned by investigators, but provided a statement which said he felt unsupported and overworked, even though he had been applying for additional duties.

The disgraced detective, who resigned earlier this month, was charged with misconduct after the investigation concluded in May 2020.

The IOPC asked the Crown Prosecution Service to consider charging him with distributing indecent images, but it refused to authorise the charges.

'He has at no point taken responsibility for his extremely poor performance'

Miranda Biddle, IOPC Regional Director, said: “Detective Constable Payton’s handling of these investigations fell so far below the standards of what members of the public are entitled to expect and his failures have had a devastating impact on the families involved.

“Had it not been for the actions of his colleagues in identifying and rectifying this litany of mistakes, his incompetence might have resulted in serious crimes going unpunished.

“He has at no point taken responsibility for his extremely poor performance and this kind of response severely erodes trust and confidence in the police and anyone who behaves in such a way can have no place in policing.

“We have been assured that Humberside Police have subsequently undertaken an internal review and implemented additional supervision approaches to ensure that concerns are flagged and addressed to prevent such failures reoccurring.

“My thoughts go out to all those who have been affected during the course of these investigations and I thank the newly assigned detectives on some of the investigations who have demonstrated a commitment to securing justice for families.”

Mr Payton will now be added onto the National College of Policing’s barred list which prohibits him from working within policing.