PC Knowles would have been dismissed if she had not quit her job
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A police officer convinced her friend not to report an alleged kidnapping ordeal because of her ‘divided loyalties’, a misconduct hearing was told.
PC Knowles was said to be aware ‘fully aware’ of an alleged crime but failed to call it in or support the police probe into the offence.
She had a ‘series of challenging personal relationships with men’ at the time which meant she ‘acted for personal gain to protect and preserve her intimate’ ties.
Knowles even spoke to members of the victim’s family and ‘actively prevented’ the incident from being flagged to police.
She ‘knew exactly what she was doing’ as her ‘own self intimate relationships clearly came well before any sense of public service’.
Knowles was found to have breached policing standards of professional behaviour, with a panel finding that her actions amounted to gross misconduct.
She would have been dismissed had she still been working for West Midlands Police, an accelerated misconduct hearing found.
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Knowles was arrested as part of an investigation into a suspected kidnap on January 30, 2025.
A decision to take no further action against her was made on February 20, a report read.
She was said to be aware of the kidnapping – alleged to have taken place in September 2024 – and ‘believed criminal offences were likely to have been committed’.
Despite this, she continued to associate with an unnamed person and did not declare her association with them to the force.
Knowles also ‘failed in her duty to report a crime in action and to support the police investigation’.
The report from Chief Constable Craig Guildford read: “The facts of the case stem from the former officer’s personal choices in terms of her intimate relationships with individuals who have clearly caused her some considerable personal anguish due to their behaviour and criminal associations.”
He added: “The communications evidence underlines her personal knowledge of an alleged kidnapping in which she believed criminal offences were likely to have been committed.
“The former officer communicated with relevant individuals to the alleged kidnap during this material time and failed in her duty as a serving officer to report a crime in action, to stop it and to support the police investigation.
“She actively sought to avoid police involvement during the material time and/or until her subsequent arrest on January 30, 2025.
“This is thoroughly discreditable. It undermines public trust and confidence in policing.
“Had the public become aware that a serving officer conducted herself in such a manner, they would be appalled.”
Knowles should have disclosed her close intimate relationship with the unnamed person but ‘deliberately sought to avoid doing so for a period of months’.
Mr Guildford said: “She knew full well that her close intimate association should have been declared as a notifiable association and she had been relatively recently trained.
“Consequently, I find her suggestion that she was then unaware of her reporting responsibilities to be at odds with the notifiable association policy and her recent training.”
Although she was off-duty at the time, she had a duty to ‘prevent and detect crime’ but ‘acted consciously for self-personal interest purposes’.
The report added: “She knew what had happened.
“She even references that she has prevented the victim’s family from contacting the police.
“She had ample opportunity to report the matter both during and after the kidnap.
“That is a serious breach of trust in my determination which brings great discredit upon the service.”
Her ‘deliberate’ conduct meant that she prevented ‘a criminal offence from being stopped or expeditiously detected’.
Mr Guildford added: “On the balance of probability, I find that her motivation was solely for personal reasons in relation to protecting her close intimate relationships.”
Knowles resigned from the force on August 4, just weeks before her misconduct hearing – which she did not attend.
The former officer – who had worked for the force for five years – was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to discreditable conduct.
The report read: “She completely accepts that she has not made the most sensible decisions and that she is ashamed.”
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