A police officer has been locked up after cheating on his cancer -stricken wife with a vulnerable witness.
Former policeman Paul Chadwick, aged 51, admitted to abusing public trust by engaging in relationships with two women who had given him witness statements.
The dad-of-three, from Griffithstown in Wales, had sex with one of the women up to 20 times in an affair that spanned three months, Cardiff Crown Court were told on December 20.
Wales Online reports that prosecutor Roger Griffiths said that Chadwick's crimes were exposed after two police officers were called to a report on November 25, 2020. They discovered an intoxicated woman, "Mrs H", standing on the wrong side of a bridge over the road.
He stated: "PC Robert recognised the lady from previous dealings with her, as part of a safety visit due to her mental health concerns. She had explained to the officer she was being recorded at home and that someone had planted fibres at her house and she thought it might have been a work colleague."
While on the bridge the woman told police: "This is what it's done to me, it's f***ed me up. He's the only one who believed me but he couldn't help me. He turned out to be f***ing married. That's what they say — never trust a copper. I think you know what I'm getting at, don't you?"
She continued: "Why was I so stupid? Why was he interested in me? He was the only one who treated me like a normal person and didn't look down on me."
Officers persuaded the woman to come over to the safe side of the bridge. She told them: "I fell in love with someone I shouldn't have and he fell in love with me. I can't say nothing. He's a Cwmbran copper. I promised I wouldn't grass on him. He's married. He's only got five years left."
As police drove the woman to hospital for mental health support, she asked them if they knew Paul Chadwick. Neither of the officers did.
She said: "I don't want to get him into trouble. Can you promise to tell Paul Chadwick he didn't ruin my life? He really didn't."
The last thing the woman told the officers that night was: "All the police do is break you."
The following day police were again called out due to safety concerns over the woman. When an officer found her intoxicated at the side of a road, she said: "Tell him I'm sorry. You know what I'm talking about don't you?"
Her comments led to a police interview, in which she said she had met Chadwick when she reported an assault. They had an affair between January and April last year.
Mr Griffiths told the court: "She normally didn't trust anyone, particularly men, because of things that happened throughout her life, but she described him as 'so professional'.
"She felt she could trust him and he was the only one who believed she was being recorded in her flat. Their relationship had begun by texting. He understood her condition, fibromyalgia, and how much pain it caused. She said they both fell for each other and he did try to stay away from her but that didn't work."
The woman said Chadwick would visit her before or after work. Following the fourth visit they started having sex. This happened 10 or 20 times, and on other occasions they would "have a kiss and a cuddle", she told police.
The court heard Chadwick's wife found out about the relationship and he changed his number, ending the affair. The woman later took a drug overdose. She said she went to the bridge because "she hated everyone and everyone had turned their backs on her".
When Gwent Police analysed Chadwick's phone it emerged he had committed misconduct in a later relationship with another woman.
Mr Griffiths said: "Again he had taken a witness statement from that person. They'd struck up a friendship. He had gone to her house for coffee. That woman kissed him and they exchanged just over 240 messages of a lewd and lascivious nature involving sexual preferences and positions."
This woman, "Mrs P", did not cooperate with the investigation but Chadwick admitted both offences, telling police he "fell into temptation". The first affair happened between January and April last year, and the second between May 12 and 30 last year.
In her victim statement, Mrs H said: "Everything is confused and mixed up in my head. For the first time in a relationship someone treated me good but I know it was not in the right circumstances because he kept coming back all the time.
"I knew he felt guilty about what he was doing to [his] wife but he couldn't keep away. For months I was worrying about him because Paul thought he'd ruined my life. I understand what everyone is saying, he abused his position and took advantage but to me it didn't feel like that and that is what I am struggling with now.
"He knows I fell in love with him. When I was hanging off the bridge it was not all to do with him. It was the situation of abuse with my neighbours.
"When I found out there was another woman involved with him just weeks after me it really hurt. My head is f****d up now."
She said she had turned to drink and drugs after the relationship ended and twice tried to take her own life. Mr Griffiths told the court he had spoken to the woman ahead of sentencing and she was in a "good place".
Shaven-headed Chadwick appeared in the dock on Monday wearing a navy suit. His lawyer Susan Ferrier said he was remorseful and his wife remains supportive.
Ms Ferrier added her client "had a dealing" with Mrs H about a year before their affair, "in relation to her being a missing person". But the lawyer said Chadwick did not know the woman to be vulnerable, though he knew about her fibromyalgia.
"There was an attraction between them," Ms Ferrier said. "He received a message from her with kisses. He responded. He shouldn't have."
The lawyer said her client was a source of "kindness and support" to the woman. There was no sex on duty or "calculated manipulation", she added.
Moving onto the second relationship, Ms Ferrier said: "When he was at Mrs P's address she went to kiss him and he responded. He shouldn't have. That was the extent of the involvement that took place there.
"His wife had been diagnosed with cancer. This had been just before they were to marry, and she does still receive treatment."
Ms Ferrier said Chadwick had also been upset by witnessing a suicide at work. His own brother also died by suicide and Chadwick "buried the impact it had on him", she told the court.
Chadwick, who has three adult children, was a paramedic before a police officer and his service was always "exemplary", Ms Ferrier added. She said he also ran a police cadet service and has been a "rock" for his family.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke imposed an 18-month jail term. She told Chadwick he had abused a role of "great responsibility".
Handing down the sentence, she said: "These were deliberate actions by you, taking up relationships with women you had been in contact with as a result of your duties."
The judge accepted the defendant's remorse as genuine but said it was "obvious" Mrs H was vulnerable. She added: "These were not cases where you abused your power, but you were utterly irresponsible."
Speaking after the hearing, Deputy Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman said: “Paul Chadwick abused his privileged position to take advantage of two vulnerable women. As a police officer, he would have known that his actions were entirely illegal.
“He is now facing the consequences for his completely unacceptable behaviour. His disgraceful actions are the types of behaviour that erode public confidence in the police. The vast majority of our officers work hard daily to deliver an excellent service and provide reassurance to our communities. We firmly stand against this form of behaviour and it will never be tolerated in Gwent Police.”
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