A police officer who lied about being a victim of domestic abuse which led to the imprisonment of another officer has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Police Constable Amanda Aston, 43, who was based at Guildford police station, had embarked on a relationship with another officer, former Sergeant Matt Taylor, in February 2017.
After being charged with engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour, Mr Taylor was released on court bail, with one of the conditions of his bail being not to contact Aston, Surrey Police said.
However, the court heard how she repeatedly encouraged him to breach these conditions and then reported him for the breaches.
He was arrested for breaching his bail and subsequently spent two months in prison. He was also dismissed from the Force following a misconduct hearing.
However, evidence later emerged which indicated that Aston had withheld key information from the original investigation team.
Chief Superintendent Tom Budd said Aston had constructed a “web of lies.”
He added: “As well as having to serve time in prison, Mr Taylor also lost his job as a police officer and his reputation was left in tatters as a result of her lies.”
The case against Mr Taylor was subsequently dropped and he was released from prison.
The investigation into Aston included the analysis of more than 23,000 social media and phone app messages between her and Mr Taylor which clearly showed that she had lied about his behaviour towards her and proved that she had misled the investigation team by providing false statements which led to him being arrested and charged.
During the investigation, it was also established that Aston had made a false application for a £5,000 grant from the Police Welfare Fund in June 2018 by claiming she had suffered financial hardship as a result of having to move home several times due to Mr Taylor’s alleged behaviour.
Following careful consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions Office, Aston was charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud by false representation.
Chief Superintendent Tom Budd added: “The messages between them showed that she was telling him one thing – that she didn’t want to support a prosecution and that she loved him and couldn’t live without him – while she was telling police something completely different by saying he had contacted her and turned up at various locations unwanted, including one of the addresses she said she had to move to in order to get away from him.
