Former Merseyside Cop jailed for misconduct offences

Merseyside Police can confirm that former police constable Ben Murphy has today, Monday 15th July, been sentenced to a total of 28 months after pleading guilty to 10 offences of misconduct in public office and one offence of sending an inappropriate message.

The charges were brought following a thorough and extensive investigation by the Force’s Professional Standards Department into the conduct of the former roads policing officer and related to allegations that Murphy had stopped cars for speeding and then issued tickets for lesser offences and that he contacted female suspects afterwards.

Murphy, who resigned from the Force in May, was officially dismissed at a fast-track hearing held in Liverpool on 3rd July, for breaches of the standards of professional behaviour connected to his criminal conviction.

Chief Superintendent Peter Costello said: “Murphy has today been sentenced to 28 months after pleading guilty to 10 counts of misconduct in public office and one of sending an inappropriate message.

“It is vital that we as a police force maintain the public’s trust and confidence and ensure that officers and staff throughout the force realise the importance of maintaining standards and working with honesty and integrity.

“We cannot afford to have officers and staff working for us who do not uphold the highest levels of professionalism, honesty and integrity and will always be robust in dealing with officers, or staff, whose conduct is unacceptable.

“The majority of people who work for Merseyside Police do a really good job day in, day out, and joined the force to serve our communities with compassion and integrity. Sadly the actions of Ben Murphy have the propensity to seriously undermine the good work of the majority.

“The public quite rightly have high expectations of police officers and Merseyside Police is committed to meeting those expectations by demanding high standards of professionalism, honesty and integrity.”