A WILTSHIRE police staff member will face gross misconduct proceedings after she admitted having an inappropriate relationship with an offender she was due to be managing.

Rachel Beale used her position as offender manager in the force’s Management of Sexual or Violent Offender (MOSOVO) Unit to start an intimate relationship with Marc Few, and then made hotel bookings during the coronavirus lockdown to see him.

She pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office at Bristol Crown Court on Monday (February 21).

The court heard that she prioritised her relationship with Mr Few above adherence to Covid-19 regulations in place between February and September 2020, and also treated him in a manner more favourable than others she was responsible for.

She has since been suspended from duty, and will be sentenced at the same court on March 30.

Beale, who now lives in Kencot in Oxfordshire, knew there was an “imbalance of power and conflict of interest”, and also used her keyworker status during Covid to make hotel bookings that non-key workers could not, and knew it was not for a law enforcement purpose, the charge states.

Wiltshire Police said in a statement on Monday that Beale was arrested in September 2020 when the matter was brought to its attention.

She was suspended and the matter was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which led the investigation.

“Now Ms Beale has been convicted the Force will immediately commence internal gross misconduct proceedings,” the statement continued.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: “Upon becoming aware of these matters, Ms Beale was arrested and immediately suspended from duty.

“Following today’s guilty plea, we will now immediately commence internal misconduct proceedings and will make a full public statement when these processes are complete and sentencing takes place.”

Beale has been released on conditional bail pending the sentencing, on March 30 at Bristol Crown Court.