Detective sues pressure after ‘discovering policewoman fiancee dishonest with colleague’
Andrew Fearon is suing North Wales Police for £344,000 claiming the force covered up misconduct after his ex-fiancée Rebecca Hutt allegedly married the senior officer investigating her workplace affair
Steve Williams pictured with Rebecca Hutt
Detective Andrew Fearon is suing North Wales Police, alleging a ‘cover-up’ after he discovered his policewoman fiancée, Rebecca Hutt, was having an affair with a colleague at their station. Ms Hutt later married a different officer who was assigned to investigate the incident.
According to High Court documents in Liverpool, Fearon is seeking £344,000 in damages, which includes £200,000 for personal injury and £144,000 for loss of earnings. He alleges that the force’s failure to impartially investigate his complaints about Ms Hutt’s behaviour resulted in “severe psychiatric injury” and financial ruin.
In the summer of 2018, when both were serving as detective constables and engaged to be married, Fearon claims that Rebecca admitted to having an affair with Detective Constable Shaun Parry, a colleague at the St Asaph police station in Denbighshire.
Fearon subsequently filed a formal complaint, alleging that the pair conducted their relationship on police premises. The current legal filings label Mr Parry as a “known sexual predator”, and allege that members of the force conspired to protect him from disciplinary action, reports the Mirror
Rather than appearing before a misconduct panel, Mr Parry was relocated to a Wrexham station. The force subsequently sacked Mr Parry without notice in 2019 following separate claims of improper conduct with another female colleague, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Mr Fearon, who took four months of stress leave, later accused his ex-fiancée of coercive control, domestic violence, and fraud.
In November 2017, North Wales Police assigned Detective Superintendent Steve Williams to investigate Mr Fearon’s claims, and he concluded the investigation by recommending no further action, allowing Ms Hutt to remain in her post.
But the court papers allege that Mr Williams was in a sexual relationship with Ms Hutt while he was actively investigating her, and claims he used his rank to influence the outcome of the investigation in favour of Ms Hutt. Mr Williams and Ms Hutt later married in 2022.
After discovering the relationship, Mr Fearon says he told a colleague he intended to arrest him for gross misconduct. Mr Fearon claims the force deactivated his access fob that same evening, barring him from police premises. After the force denied his request for an external investigation, he resigned.
Solicitor David Miers, representing Mr Fearon, said: “Mr Fearon’s case centres on North Wales Police’s failure to undertake an impartial investigation in light of the alleged offences and the relationships Ms Hutt was having with other officers.
“The failure to do that left Mr Fearon feeling isolated and unsupported, which ultimately resulted in a very serious psychiatric injury.”
Steve Williams, who has since retired, strongly denies having a relationship with his now-wife Ms Hutt at the time of the investigation, calling “Mr Fearon’s claims malicious, without substance, and a continuum of harassment”. Shaun Parry declined to comment on the case, and said he had “moved on with my life”.
Ms Hutt, who is still a serving officer, also declined to comment. The case is scheduled for a hearing at a Liverpool court in July.
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