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FRAUD COP CONFESSES SEX SECRET
Detective tells court of relationship with suspect's sister
A DETECTIVE dramatically confessed to having a sexual relationship with the sister of an estate agent he was investigating for fraud.
The bombshell came on Monday afternoon in the trial of two Hampstead property dealers accused of swindling money and shares from a mentally-ill client.
Detective Constable Steve Pointon, the officer from Kentish Town Police who first took charge of the case, was told that he got “far too close” to Zehra Shevket, whose brother is in the dock at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
He was asked to explain what “pillow talk” he had with Ms Shevket, after admitting sleeping with her in a relationship that lasted over a year before breaking down.
DC Pointon confirmed in court that his conduct is being scrutinised by the Directorate of Professional Standards and that he has been asked to step down from the long-running case against estate agent Malcolm Green and his former colleague Gem Shevket.
He was cross-examined for almost 30 minutes on his relationship with Ms Shevket by Edward Henry, who is defending Mr Green.
DC Pointon said the relationship started earlier this year when he gave her his mobile phone number.
Asked who had initiated the courting, he said: “I would have to see the texts we sent. I think it was a mutual thing.”
He added that he did not think it was unusual for a detective to hand out his personal mobile phone number.
DC Pointon said: “I gave my number to Zehra as she was the point of contact for Mr Shevket, who was out of the country at the time. I’m not always office bound and its easier to call my mobile.”
The court heard the relationship became “acrimonious”, breaking down in the summer after an allegation made by Ms Shevket to Northamptonshire CID. The incident, the nature of which was not specified in court, is “vehemently denied” by DC Pointon and Ms Shevket is not pressing charges, although the case file has not been closed.
DC Pointon said that he didn’t tell other officers working on the case and his police superiors about the relationship.
The court heard that when it was finally exposed by Ms Shevket’s allegation, he told senior officers: “Zehra is someone I met through the course of my work. I’d rather not go into the details of it. I don’t believe it is relevant.”
Ms Shevket, who has sat in court to support her brother through almost two weeks of evidence, left the court when details of her relationship with the detective were told to the jury and only returned for the latter part of his evidence.
DC Pointon said: “I made it clear from the start that it was a sexual relationship. Zehra was a friend of mine, a female friend, we were never a girlfriend and boyfriend. We kept in touch by text.”
The court heard how Ms Shevket gave DC Pointon £200 to pay for tyre repairs on his car and spent money on meals for them both as they grew closer.
At the same time, he was still posted to the investigation into Gem Shevket.
He denied a suggestion that she had paid for nights at the Hilton hotel.
Mr Henry asked DC Pointon whether the relationship had affected the way he interviewed Mr Shevket, telling him that he had “got far too close”.
The barrister said: “It must have been difficult, somebody who had been generous to you and you were sleeping with.”
DC Pointon told the court: “It did not did affect my impartiality.”
In a tense courtroom exchange, Mr Henry described the relationship as “covert contact” and asked: “Did you feel excited by her presence or the prospect of having a relationship with her at the time you were inverviewing her brother?”
The detective replied: “I’m not sure what you mean by excited.”
DC Pointon said that Ms Shevket had asked him about the case but he did not stray beyond what was already “public knowledge” during their conversations.
“She was obviously upset, concerned that her brother had been charged with a serious offence,” he said. “She was worried about what might happen to her brother if he was found guilty.” |
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