West Mercia Police release mugshot of former officer as force vows to ‘root out individuals’ who do not meet its standards

This is the first picture of a corrupt police officer who used his position to target women as he was condemned by West Mercia Police. The force shared a mugshot of former Pc Oliver Dines as it vowed to “root out” officers breaching standards.

The 33-year-old, who was a student officer at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty to police corruption and was jailed at Redditch Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, February 12. Dines was given a 15-month sentence for abusing his position as a police officer.

He was on duty when he subjected two women to inappropriate behaviour in separate offences in 2020. He met both through the course of his duties – one had been reporting an assault while the other was a suspect.

READ MORE: Corrupt officer jailed for ‘on-duty’ crimes as sexts, requests and inappropriate touching revealed

Woman A, a suspect for an alleged offence, had been waiting to be interviewed by Dines when he asked if she was single. After taking her back home from custody, he commented on what she was wearing and inappropriately touched her.

While still on duty, he requested her as a Facebook friend before bombarding her with 50 messages in eight hours. A second victim, woman B, came to Dines to report an assault, but he continued contacting her from his work – and later personal – phone.

His messages “quickly became sexualised and explicit”, watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct said, and at one point he asked her to send pictures of herself. She refused and asked Dines to stop messaging her, but he continued.

Dines also made “unnecessary visits” to woman B at her home and on one occasion, he inappropriately touched her. He later pleaded guilty to the charges under section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act, which makes it illegal for police officers to improperly use their powers and privileges.

After he was jailed, deputy chief constable Rachel Jones said: “There is no place in policing for individuals like this. Dines was in a trusted position and abused his position for his own gratification. We will continue to proactively root out individuals who do not meet the high standards expected of those in a position of trust.”

Dines, who was previously based at Hereford police station, was sacked from the force in March 2022 after an accelerated misconduct hearing found he had “seriously breached the standards of professional behaviour for honesty and integrity for a separate matter,” the force said.

The corruption allegations were referred to the IOPC, which carried out an independent investigation which led to charges. Two other charges are to lie on file.