Married police chief quits before misconduct panel over sex with junior officer

Daniel Greenwood (left) allegedly told junior officer Caitlin Howarth to delete their intimate messages (Picture: Facebook)

A married police chief has resigned after an affair with a rookie officer 17 years his junior.

Chief Superintendent Daniel Greenwood, 41, a Bradford district commander, allegedly took advantage of his position by starting a relationship with student officer Caitlin Howarth, 24.

Howarth was 21 during the the alleged fling while Chief Supt Greenwood was 38.

Their affair was revealed when anti-corruption officers looked into a suspected connection between Howarth and convicted drug lord Joseph King who once appeared on Channel 4’s First Dates.

Joseph Shaw, who Howarth met on Tinder, was convicted of drug offences (Picture: West Yorkshire Police)

Greenwood allegedly swapped flirty texts and sexually explicit images with the student cop who he had met initially met through Howarth’s mother, and the pair allegedly had sex while Greenwood was on duty during the Covid-19 restrictions, MailOnline reports citing the misconduct hearing. 

He has now quit his 20-year policing career before his misconduct hearing yesterday. Greenwood had been suspended on full pay after the alleged affair came to light.

Howarth had her criminal charges dropped over allegations she failed to report King’s criminal links to the West Yorkshire Police. 

However, she still faces a misconduct investigation over the affair.

John Beggs KC, representing the force, told at Greenwood’s disciplinary hearing yesterday: ‘Whatever her sexual desires for Greenwood, it ought reasonably to have been obvious to an officer of [his] length of service, age, and rank that she was vulnerable in any relationship with him by reason of the stark disparity in age and rank.’

How the affair unfolded

Chief Supt Daniel Greenwood’s affair with Howarth caused ‘gossip’ within West Yorkshire Police where he was a Bradford District Commander

The hearing heard how Greenwood had sex with her twice after he had helped her apply for a job.

It was revealed how the police chief got to know Howarth – referred to as Miss A in the hearing – through her mother in 2019 as she was a governor at his children’s primary school.

The young woman sought advise on how she could join the police force after graduating from university.  

The tribunal heard how his motivations ‘morphed, at least in part, into sexual self-interest.’

Beggs said Greenwood should have known that ‘his sexual dalliances with his probationer were bound to bring discredit upon the police service, as indeed they have in numerous unfortunate media articles.’

Their ‘inappropriate’ affair is said to have caused ‘gossip’ within the force, the hearing was told. 

The pair – neither who were single – messaged each other by the summer of 2020 with sexual images and texts until she was arrested in November 2021, the panel heard.

Caitlin Howarth (Picture: Facebook)

It is possible Greenwood breached the stay-at-home Covid rules when he visited her apartment in January 2021.

Greenwood told the investigators that the ‘sexual attraction and flirtation was mutual’ and it was ‘habitually initiated by Miss A.’

He told through his representatives that Miss A ‘found older men…more attractive’ and that she had wanted to leave her boyfriend.

She said she had sex with Greenwood ‘because I was going through a rough time with my boyfriend.’

Howarth said the senior cop ‘asked me to delete the messages.’

She said: ‘I think he deleted them so that his wife didn’t see but he used to say make sure you delete the pictures or delete the messages. Towards the end I didn’t cos I didn’t think. I didn’t know why I needed to. I think he deleted them from my iCloud at his request.’

In October 2021, Miss A asked Greenwood for advice after meeting Joseph Shaw. 29, on Tinder. Shaw’s brother was in prison at the time.

Greenwood replied to her: ‘He won’t stop until he’s shagged you. That’s not ok.’

Shaw, a used car salesman, was jailed for six-and-a-half years in January 2023 after admitting a plot to supply drugs with his younger brother.

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Greenwood admitted discreditable conduct amounting to gross misconduct. He didn’t attend his hearing.

His representative Hugh Davies KC said he suffered post-traumatic stress and couldn’t give evidence, adding that his high achievements at work hid a ‘complex personality with addictive characteristics’ and that he is a ‘high functioning alcoholic.’

The tribunal heard that Greenwood’s wife is undergoing treatment for cancer.

Davies said: ‘This is a family under acute and continued strain. He wants to rebuild for them as they have in the last three years for him.’ 

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