A POLICE officer with nearly 20 years experience, PC Dave Lovell has no doubt made countless arrests.
But in tonight’s shocking episode of To Catch A Copper, the cop finds himself on the wrong side of the law.
C4PC Lovell had been an officer for 20 years when he was accused of revenge porn[/caption]
Gareth Iwan Jones / Channel 4DC Amber Redman and DS Geoff Smith of Avon and Somerset police’s counter-corruption unit are the real-life Line Of Duty cops[/caption]
The bombshell Channel 4 documentary series tracks the work of Avon and Somerset Police’s Counter-Corruption Unit as they weed out bent officers.
In tonight’s episode, cameras show the real-life Line Of Duty cops as they confront PC Lovell at work before arresting him on suspicion of revenge porn.
He sits with his head in his hands as cops detail the allegations made against him.
Meanwhile outside the interview room, an investigating cop whispers: “His face says guilty as sin to me.”
Breaking his silence, PC Lovell tells officers to tell his wife everything, saying: “I think she might as well know it all, to be honest.”
He is then taken to a cell and advised to change out of his uniform because “walking in like that is not in your interests”.
The documentary later reveals how the officer befriended a 17-year-old vulnerable school girl by offering to take her on “ride-outs” in his police response car, before sharing images of her too.
PC Lovell, 46, also had sex with a fellow employee while on-duty at a police station.
C4PC Lovell puts his head in his hands during his police interview[/caption]
C4DC Redman interviews PC Lovell following the complaint[/caption]
He was arrested in May 2021 after a woman came forward to make a complaint that he had shared intimate images of her online without her consent.
Aged 19 at the time, she said she had shared the images consensually with him a decade ago, but was horrified to be alerted by a friend that her images were now on websites including Reddit.
She said in a statement that the 10 photos had gained 4,000 likes and 60 comments.
The woman claimed she broke down when she saw them, adding: “I just feel like my body has been taken away from me.”
She said she immediately contacted PC Lovell, an operational support officer. In messages shown in the programme, he claims his account on image hosting site Imgur had been hacked.
He was dismissed from his role while an investigation was launched. Officers from the force’s Counter-Corruption Unit also seized all of PC Lovell’s devices for cyber crime experts to analyse.
A forensic search of his devices found other possible offences. Detective Constable Amber Redman then traced two other women whose images Lovell had posted.
Both were police recruits whom he befriended by offering them “ride-alongs” on patrol duty.
‘Vulnerable’ victims
Story FilmsPC Lovell was dismissed from his role while an investigation was launched[/caption]
Story FilmsHe was arrested after a woman made a complaint in May 2021[/caption]
One of them says in the documentary that she was a 17-year-old school girl when she met Lovell 10 years ago, and details how their friendship quickly turned flirtatious, before moving onto sexting.
She says he encouraged her to share explicit images of herself with him.
The woman, a previous victim of sexual abuse, adds: “I was definitely vulnerable.”
Another victim only discovers her images have been shared on the web after she is visited by DC Redman.
I think it is fair to say Dave Lovell is a predator. The behaviour that he shows in the way that he does it, he seems to cast a net out wide and reels in anybody who pays attention to him. His purpose is to have some sexual gain from it
DC Redman
On seeing the photos, cops say the woman knew “straight away” it was her.
DC Redman tells the cameras: “Then the realisation hit her that he’s done the same thing to her that he’s done to the other victim. It’s not a nice message to deliver and I feel very sad about it.”
She adds: “I think it is fair to say he’s a predator. The behaviour that he shows in the way that he does it, he seems to cast a net out wide and reels in anybody who pays attention to him. His purpose is to have some sexual gain from it.”
Pattern of behaviour
Story FilmsPC Lovell was taken to a cell in a different police force after his arrest in 2021[/caption]
Lovell’s disciplinary record reveals he has been investigated on five previous occasions.
In 2006 he was given a verbal warning for sending inappropriate photos, and in 2016 he was handed a written warning for making inappropriate comments.
DC Redman speaks to female officers who worked with Lovell at the time, who outline a telling pattern of inappropriate behaviour.
One female officer says in the documentary: “Dave would send every girl he came into contact with a picture of his penis.”
Dave would send every girl he came into contact with a picture of his penis
Female police officer
Another said: “It was a standing joke that if you were a female and you hadn’t been sent a picture of Dave Lovell’s penis, then there must be something wrong with you.”
They also tell how the male cop had a folder on his phone that was “full of hundreds of images of women”.
To Catch A Copper tells how all three women did not wish to give evidence in court and the police decided against referring the case to the Crown Prosecution Service due to there not being a realistic chance of conviction.
However, they agreed to support the misconduct process as long as they were guaranteed anonymity.
It was also proven during the hearing that Lovell had sex with a police employee at a police station while on duty, some time between Janaury 2012 and December 2013.
Another allegation that he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a former police employee was also proven.
Chief Constable Sarah Crew of Avon and Somerset Police dismissed PC Lovell from the force
Following the hearing in June 2023, he was sacked for gross misconduct and given a Sexual Risk Order to prevent him causing further harm to the public.
Lovell, who did not attend, is now banned from being employed by another police or law enforcement agency.
The Sexual Risk Order, which comes under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, lasts for seven years and places a string of strict conditions on Lovell designed to stop and prevent him from causing any further harm or distress.
But for the former 17-year-old police cadet, her ordeal is far from over.
She says in the film: “Since the hearing of him being dismissed, I constantly worry about who has my images.
“What have they got? What have they seen? All because he posted them online.”
To Catch a Copper continues tonight at 9pm on C4.
Story FilmsPC Bryony Trueman, who accused a colleague of sexual misconduct, also appears in the episode[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
