A poster boy detective is suing his force for sex discrimination claiming colleagues ignored his complaints of domestic abuse because he is a man.

DC Gareth Yates, 35, reported his ex-girlfriend over criminal offences allegedly committed during a three-year campaign of harassment.

The officer said he was assaulted, stalked, verbally abused and the victim of theft as he pleaded for help.

But he claims Cheshire Police did not take the allegations seriously and failed to record them or investigate.

DC Yates, who has appeared on BBC’s Crimewatch, believes the force would have taken action if a woman reported the same offences.

Cheshire Police's Detective Gareth Yates is suing the force over claims his domestic abuse allegations were ignored and not properly handled

He is now fighting for compensation after claiming his complaints and the row over the apparent failings damaged his career.

The once high-flying detective has been consigned to a back office ‘clerical’ role over the ‘administrative matter’.

Cheshire Police says the case is nothing to do with his gender and is instead a result of its hopeless record of failing to record thousands of crimes.

Its lawyers said wider ‘organisational’ failings identified by inspectors last year are to blame.

DC Yates claims his former long-term partner, who has not been named and is not a police officer, subjected him to a campaign of abuse over three years until 2016.

As well as assault, theft and stalking, he claims he was the victim of a string of ‘malicious communications’.

The officer, who currently lives with his parents near Bolton, was in a relationship with the woman from 2003 until it went sour.

But Cheshire Police tried to block an employment tribunal proceeding, saying the claim is too late, poorly drafted and officers are investigating now anyway.

DC Yates said the force's belated decision to eventually investigate his allegations supports his claim that they should have got involved in the first place.

Ordering the case to continue, employment tribunal judge John Sherratt said the full facts must be heard.

He said: ‘It is the claimant's contention that the respondent did not record the offences that he alleged were committed against him by his then female partner.

‘Whereas had the police officer reporting crimes been female reporting offences against a male partner then the allegations would have been recorded as crimes and dealt with accordingly.’

The judge added: ‘The outcome of the current investigation may be relevant to the question of remedy but not, in my judgement, to the question of liability.

‘The application for a stay is therefore refused. I do not consider it appropriate to strike out the claim without the evidence being heard and tested.’

DC Yates, who is representing himself, has been involved in a string of high profile cases and has appeared on TV representing his force.

Ine one, he brought to justice a cruel fantasist woman who pretended to be a man to dupe a female friend into sex.

The high flying detective said he is now in a back office role after the reports and their handling rocked his career

Fraudster Gayle Newland, 28, was jailed in an extraordinary case after persuading her victim to wear a blindfold whenever they met and assaulting her with a sex toy.

The employment tribunal is embarrassing for the north west England force which is campaigning to bring domestic violence out into the open.

Last year inspectors ranked it ‘inadequate’ as they raised significant concerns around how crimes are recorded.

They found at least 11,600 offences including violence, sex crimes and burglary, stayed off the books. The force has made considerable improvements since.

Last month a police chief said he wants to promote ‘early intervention’ and for domestic violence victims to be ‘confident in speaking openly’.

In a mission statement, Cheshire Police says domestic abuse can affect anyone ‘regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexuality or social background’.

‘You may be feeling frightened, isolated, ashamed or confused but please do not suffer in silence, help is available,’ it says.

Two other claims bought by DC Yates, involving being victimised after making a disclosure in the public interest, were thrown out.

It is not the first time male police officers have attempted to sue their forces claiming sexual discrimination.

A Scotland Yard firearms officer claimed compensation after being denied a career break despite it being granted to his wife on the same terms.

A single father former officer is suing Police Scotland for sex discrimination as changes to his shift pattern meant he couldn’t look after his children.