Two married British police officers' affair was exposed after they were caught having sex in a squad car while ignoring calls for assistance during an assault, burglary in progress.
The Surrey Police officers, Sgt. Molly Edwards and PC Richard Paton, were caught after their suspicious superiors bugged their vehicle, as reported by The Sun.
'Aww, Let's Just Get Naked'
A disciplinary panel was told that Paton, 39, was heard moaning "aww, let's just get naked", after an urgent 4.51am radio request for assistance for a burglary that was taking place at an electrical store.
The officers, both married with children, had also ignored a 4.17am call to attend a hospital to deal with two victims of an assault incident that took place outside a nightclub. At the time, they were parked about 15 minutes away and engaging in sexual acts, an independent disciplinary board heard.
Panel chair John Bassett said in an adjudication report: "It is evident from the transcripts of what occurred after the call that sexual activity continued." The panel was also presented secret recordings that captured the two officers' "verbal expressions of sexual fantasies."
According to the report, their sexual activity "clearly involved the removal of some of their clothing, kissing," as well as the exposure of her breasts and him pleasuring her.
Both Officers Have Resigned from The Department
Both officers resigned from Surrey Police before last month's tribunal, which went ahead in their absence. The panel found four allegations of gross misconduct were proven and said both would have been fired if still employed with Surrey Police.
These allegations include engaging in sexual activity on duty in a police vehicle, failing to attend police calls for assistance, misleading their boss over rumors of their affair and Paton was also accused of making a racist comment towards an Asian colleague.
The officers denied having full intercourse and Edwards, who is in her 30s, said sexual activity only took place over two days while the car was bugged.
Before tendering her resignation, she wrote of their affair: "It wasn't always sexual in that sometimes it could be just holding hands," "I enjoyed the time we had together, but became aware what we were doing was wrong and would say to him we should put a stop to it," she added.
The panel concluded there was not enough evidence to prove the affair had been going on for three months, as alleged, but ruled it started at least three weeks beforehand.
Edwards claimed they could not attend the hospital as they had dealt with the nightclub assaults earlier and there was a risk of evidence being contaminated. However, the panel ruled they did not want sex to be interrupted.
