FORMER Essex Det Con Lee Pollard and soon to be ex-Det Con Sharon Patterson were both found guilty at the Old Bailey of misconduct in public office.

Both were working on the Child Abuse Investigation Team in Colchester.

Conduct both were convicted of included forging documentation, destroying evidence and misrepresenting the state of evidence to supervisors which resulted in some investigations being closed.

Both will be sentenced on May 3.

Doubtless both would have been told they are facing custody.

A very worrying state of affairs for anybody, let alone a police officer.

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Sadly, Colchester policing has been no stranger to a host of rotten eggs over the years. Here are just a few:

• Det Con Peter Wood, who worked with Patterson and Pollard, sacked in 2018 for lying in child abuse investigations.

• Special Constable James Parker, sacked in 2018 for sending a photo of his genitalia to a fellow member of staff whilst in his police uniform.

• PC Munns, sacked in 2017 for his behaviour towards hotel staff in Norwich following a boozy night out.

• PC Simon Lofting, sacked from the Marine Unit in 2016 for misleading his superiors regarding a request for information.

• Unnamed officer, sacked in 2014 for starting an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable woman he met through his policing role (believe me, this happens a lot).

• Bob Sloan, jailed for 2 years for perverting the course of justice by trying to help a criminal avoid a charge of handling stolen goods.

And who could forget “poogate?”.

In 2017 it was reported a disgruntled officer had left a deposit in a station bin in apparent protest at the station being an “awful place to work”.

I’m sure that had the perpetrator been detected, that would have been considered misconduct of the grossest kind.

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The public are also awaiting with interest the story of a man with severe mental health difficulties who went into police custody with 10 fingers and came out with only seven, following restraint by a number of Colchester officers.

You have to feel sorry for Chief Constable BJ Harrington, appointed in June last year.

It makes you wonder. If he were to move his office to Colchester police headquearters, would people start behaving themselves?

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