Catalogue of offences by rapist officer Wayne Scott failed to trigger full investigation until it was too late

Today, the full extent of his deviant sexual behaviour has been highlighted in a 208-page investigation into how he avoided detection for more than a decade.

Within months of starting work as a police office Scott’s sexual behaviour had been reported to senior staff but with only a recommendation for monitoring, he was allowed to continue unabated as colleagues described his inappropriate sexual behaviour as ‘Wayne being Wayne’.

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SCOTT: Deputy Chief Constable Iain Spittal and Detective Chief Superintendent Peter McPhillips after the publication of the report into former officer Wayne Scott. Picture: STUART BOULTON

Cleveland Police has accepted that more should have been done to stop his behaviour spiralling out of control and an investigation uncovered 16 ‘red flag’ warnings that were either ignored or not acted upon.

Scott had a reputation for using inappropriate sexual language in front of colleagues, including bragging about his ‘shagging phone’, which he used to contact vulnerable women and for using the phrase ‘the rape game’.

But several alarming incidents went unpunished or inadequately recorded before his offending was brought to an end following his arrest on suspicion of rape.

During his time working in Hartlepool he received a series of love letters from some ten-year-old girls, even going so far as taking one of them for an ice cream at Seaton Carew.

As part of the investigation, detectives traced the girls who said that Scott would give them cuddles and money to buy sweets but they all denied that Scott subjected them to any offences.

However, investigation team learned that he was just warned to ‘take a step back’ and no investigation was carried out at the time of the complaint.

His supervising sergeant at the time has since been sanctioned and will receive recordable management action.

The disgraced former officer also had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one woman, who he had arrested, by having sex with her in a police station as well as a police van.

On one occasion, he visited the home address of his mother whilst on duty to use a computer to access a dating website where he arranged dates with women.

Scott also misused the force’s computer system to access the details of almost 100 women for non police related purposes in a 12 month period between September 2010 and August 2011.

Former police officer Wayne Scott in a police custody cell after his arrest

Investigators managed to track 19 vulnerable women, who were either involved in the sex trade, vulnerable females linked to drug abuse, victims of domestic abuse incidents or females suspected of a criminal offence, but none made any complaints.

Detective Chief Superintendent Peter McPhillips, who carried out the investigation under supervision from the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said some of the women Scott targeted lived a transient lifestyle.

He said: “Some of the women Scott targeted were vulnerable, including drug addicts and prostitutes, so we had to interview several times to get as much information as possible from them but due to their lifestyles it was not always possible to corroborate what they were saying.

“However, if there are more potential victims out there I would urge them to come forward and speak to us.”

Wayne Scott, pictured in 2009 as a local beat officer in Hardwick, Stockton

The full list of complaints against Scott ranged from rape to inappropriate sexual comments and part of the report’s conclusion reads: “It is likely that the offences Scott committed against Subject Fifteen, Subject Fourteen and Subject Sixteen would have occurred, irrespective of whether Scott’s behaviour whilst on duty had been challenged, the offences he committed against those victims occurred off duty and in the case of Subject Sixteen after he was dismissed from the police.

“It is impossible to say whether the alleged offences against the other nine identified victims would have occurred if Scott’s “red flag” behaviour had been identified, challenged and monitored, it is likely that he would have been under greater scrutiny which may have prevented the sexual assault against Subject Thirteen and the alleged sexual assaults against Subject Eight and Subject Ten.”

Deputy Chief Constable said lessons had been learned but accepted that there had been major failings in the force’s handling of complaints against Scott.

He said: “I want to sincerely apologise to everyone who has been affected by the actions of Wayne Scott whilst he was a serving officer with Cleveland Police.

“It is right that the public expect and are able to trust that our police officers and staff will keep them safe from harm and protect them. Wayne Scott betrayed this trust and manipulated those around him, both on and off duty.

“The report shows that there are snapshots of instances and concerns over a number of years, both on and off duty. Some of these cases were not reported to police, which shows that we must do more to build confidence. Police officers are not above the law, if they are found to have acted unprofessionally, unethically, or criminally – they will be treated the same as a member of the public.”