Rapist police officer Wayne Scott 'should have been challenged by colleagues'

A rapist ex-police officer's inappropriate sexual behaviour was allowed to "flourish" throughout his career with a police force, a damning report has said.

Wayne Scott was jailed for 19 years in 2013 after he was convicted of the rape and the attempted rape of a woman, having already admitted raping a different woman seven times over a number of years.

He also confessed to two common assaults, one sexual assault and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual touching.

Cleveland Police have been criticised for "a prevailing culture of indifference towards Scott's behaviour and an unwillingness to challenge or report his actions", in a report by the force's Detective Chief Superintendent Peter McPhillips under the supervision of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

A number of colleagues were indifferent to his behaviour, the report said, with some putting it down to "Wayne being Wayne".

It added that other colleagues, a number of whom were victims, were too intimidated to challenge Scott, who worked in postings at Hartlepool and Stockton, or make their seniors aware.

There were a number of "red flags" including Scott talking about sexual fantasies in front of colleagues, the report said, and these should have identified him as "an individual of concern" who needed to be tracked.

Some of his offending may have been prevented if this had happened, it said.

It said: "Staff have a responsibility to challenge inappropriate behaviour and to raise their concerns with supervision."

The report recommended all staff within the force should be briefed about the case.

It concluded: "There is significant learning to come out of the Scott enquiry, centred around how he was managed by the organisation, how his offending was investigated, the attitude of colleagues to his offending and the inability of some victims to disclose his offences."

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Spittal said the case is an example of "where we didn't get it right" and apologised to victims.

He said: "It's clear from the findings that officers and staff felt unable or unwilling to report or challenge his sexual remarks and degrading behaviour at work, that it was 'just Wayne being Wayne'.

"Where incidents were reported, we recognise and accept that red flags were missed and the organisation dealt with cases in isolation, rather than joining the dots."

Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger said while the force has already made changes since Scott's conviction, there is more to be done.

He said: "It is vital that Cleveland Police implements the recommendations from the report as swiftly as possible. Whilst it's clear that those now leading the organisation have already made significant changes, the force as a whole needs to learn from past mistakes in how Scott's behaviour was dealt with.

"It is completely unacceptable that his disgusting behaviour went unchallenged for so long."