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Police have refused to name an officer who was sacked for abusing his position to develop relationships with vulnerable women.

The sergeant, who has worked for Warwickshire Police for 15 years, was dismissed on Monday following a police misconduct hearing.

New legislation means that these hearings should be held in public - but this one was held behind closed doors.

The force said this was to protect witnesses in the case.

The Telegraph has asked Warwickshire Police to reveal the name of the officer but they have refused to do so - claiming it would risk revealing the identity of witnesses.

Deputy chief constable Karen Manners, who chaired the misconduct hearing said: “We can confirm that there were no criminal offences involved in this investigation.

“There were no allegations involving physical contact, but there were allegations amounting to an attempt to abuse his position to develop inappropriate relationships with vulnerable women.

“Once this information came to light, Warwickshire Police took prompt action resulting in the officer’s dismissal, thereby removing the position of trust he had abused.

“Based upon the information known at this time, we do not deem there to be a risk of the former officer committing criminal offences.

“As the chair of the panel, I considered the National Police Chief’s Council guidance on naming officers on dismissal.

“However, the vulnerability of witnesses and their needs had to override the preferred option to name the officer who had brought disrepute on the service.

“Ultimately, it was the bravery of the witnesses coming forward that provided the evidence that enabled the officer to be dismissed and no longer able to abuse his position as a police officer.”

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The sergeant was dismissed with immediate effect for gross misconduct. The outcome of the hearing is subject to the normal appeals process.

In 2013 the force apologised after refusing to name an officer who had been charged with stealing £113,000 from their former Leek Wootton HQ.

They announced that they would not identify Paul Greaves at the same time as introducing a policy of not naming suspects - even after they have been charged with an offence.

The force later issued an apology and said they would now name charged suspects.

There have only been a handful of misconduct hearings involving Warwickshire Police officers this year.

In March a constable was accused of breaching standards by being “incivil” to a member of the public. He was given management advice.

In July a sergeant was accused of four counts of discreditable conduct and was dismissed after a misconduct hearing.

A month later another constable was dismissed without notice for discreditable conduct.

Despite most of the hearings now being held in public none of the officers involved are named on Warwickshire Police’s website.

There are currently no misconduct hearings scheduled but when they are interested parties have five days to register to attend.

UPDATE - Warwickshire Police are now naming officers involved in public misconduct hearings on their website.