Ex-detective loses £344k claim after former fiancée marries officer who handled affair complaint

HomeNewsUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessWorld of BusinessTechnology of BusinessNYSE Opening BellTechnologyWatch DocumentariesArtificial IntelligenceIntelligence RevolutionAI v the MindTech NowHealthWatch DocumentariesCultureWatch DocumentariesFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsWatch DocumentariesArts in MotionTravelWatch DocumentariesDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListTo the Ends of the Earth EarthWatch DocumentariesScienceNatural WondersClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcast CategoriesRadioAudio FAQsVideoWatch DocumentariesBBC MaestroDiscover the WorldLiveLive NewsLive SportDocumentariesSite searchHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesWeatherNewslettersEx-detective loses £344k claim after former fiancée marries officer who handled affair complaint15 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleChris DeardenBBC WalesBBCFormer detective Andrew Fearon sued North Wales Police, but was not successful A former detective has lost his case against a police force over the handling of his complaint after his fiancée cheated on him with a colleague and later married the senior officer who investigated the affair.

Andrew Fearon split up with his partner, who was also a police officer, in 2017 after she had an affair with another officer and he lodged a grievance.

His ex-fiancée later married the grievance manager who looked into the complaint, but a judge said there was no evidence they got together until long after the investigations.

Fearon told the court he was left with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the judge disagreed North Wales Police (NWP) was to blame.

In her written judgement dismissing the claim, in which Fearon tried to sue the force for £343,251 in damages and loss of earnings, Judge Sarah O-Brien said Fearon and Rebecca Hutt were both police officers with North Wales Police, were due to get married in September 2017 and had bought a house together.

But, in May that year, Hutt told him she was having an affair with another officer, Shaun Parry.

After a period of sick leave with "stress-related problems" and depression, Fearon lodged a grievance, but the force concluded there was no case to answer.

Then, in 2020, the officer who had investigated Fearon's grievance – Steve Williams – began a relationship with Hutt, and they have since married.

A year later, Fearon's mental health deteriorated, and he began telling colleagues at work he was "going to arrest" Williams, leading to the force deactivating the key fob which gave him access to the office where he worked.

He took sick leave again, but never returned to work, eventually retiring from the force due to ill health.

Fearon took his case to Liverpool Civil Court, where he claimed Williams' relationship with Hutt had started much earlier, and that they had been together at the time of the grievance.

He also argued NWP had caused or contributed to his psychiatric injury through the way it handled his initial grievance, its refusals to arrange an independent external investigation, by revoking his key fob and failing to tell him, and by failing "to properly manage a known risk to his mental health".

He said this had "destroyed his trust and confidence in the force" and led to his mental breakdown in 2021.

But Judge O'Brien concluded: "I find no evidence of corruption, conspiracy, cover up or favouritism towards Rebecca Hutt. I find no evidence that those involved were acting in bad faith.

"I accept that [Fearon] suffered serious psychiatric injury and that he experienced the events in question as profoundly distressing.

"I also accept that he genuinely believes that he has been treated unfairly. However, genuine belief does not establish negligence."

She said Fearon had not proved, on the balance of probabilities, that NWP acted in breach of its duty of care towards him, apart from the failure to tell him that his fob had been revoked.

The judge added Williams had "acted entirely professionally throughout" by declaring to NWP that he was in a relationship with Hutt as soon as they got together – something he was required to do as he was a senior police officer at the time.

It was heard he had produced "text messages between family members [that proved] when the relationship between him and Rebecca Hutt started".

"Even without that I would have had absolutely no doubt… that they did not go out on a date together until 24 April 2020," the judge said.