Chief inspector sacked over domestic abuse arrest

A senior police officer who was sacked after being arrested for domestic abuse can be named despite being granted anonymity in misconduct proceedings.

Former Det Ch Insp Lee Wilkinson was arrested by Merseyside Police in 2023 on suspicion of coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.

The criminal case was dropped but Wilkinson was subjected to disciplinary proceedings and found guilty of gross misconduct in January this year.

His name was withheld during the misconduct proceedings, which are normally held in public, but was published on the College of Policing barred list - a register of former police officers prohibited from working in policing in future.

Merseyside Police said the decision to anonymise Wilkinson was taken by an independent legally qualified chair who presided over the misconduct proceedings.

Officers can be anonymised by a misconduct panel at the discretion of the chair, although the force did not confirm why the decision had been taken in Wilkinson's case.

On the barred list, however, the College of Policing stated that Wilkinson was "dismissed for breaching the standards of professional behaviour relating to Honesty and Integrity and Discreditable Conduct for domestic abuse."

The force did not reveal the details of the abusive behaviour that led to Wilkinson being sacked.

It said after his arrest in 2023 he was immediately suspended.

Wilkinson had worked on murder cases and large scale drugs conspiracies including those resulting from the Encrochat encrpyted phone network hack.

Det Ch Supt Sabi Kaur, head of the force's Professional Standards Department, said: "We expect the highest standards at all times from our officers and staff and when their actions fall below those standards we will take swift and effective action.

"We will not allow the unacceptable actions of individuals to damage the good name built up by the vast majority of our officers and staff who do an exemplary job to ensure that all of our communities are protected."

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