Married police officer left his force radio on after sneaking off for sex with colleague while on duty

A hearing has heard a police officer left his force radio on while he had sex with a female colleague while on duty.

Darren Lane reportedly placed the radio on a bedside table at the home of his colleague before having “full sex” with her.

A disciplinary hearing heard after leaving her home he sent a message, which read: “That’s the baddest thing I’ve ever done xxx.”

It was heard that he also sent a picture of himself performing a sex act to her.

Lane, a senior officer in the Sussex Police’s Missing Persons Team, is accused of twice going round to the woman’s house and having sex with her while he was on duty.

Today, he appeared before a disciplinary panel hearing in Lewes, East Sussex, reports MailOnline.

The hearing was told the inspector first met the woman, who cannot be named, in 2018. Inspector Lane was working for the Missing Persons Team and she was working directly with the police in the same office as a member of a missing persons charity.

The pair became friends but in 2020 their relationship became “flirtatious” with both sending each other messages on their phones.

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Inspector Lane admits going to her house when he was on a shift but denies having sex, claiming he connected to the wifi at the property and carried out police work from the house.

However, the woman, who gave evidence by video link, said they had sex for almost the whole time he was there. Lawyer for Sussex Police Robert Talalay asked: “How long were you engaged in sexual activity?”

She replied: “Probably most of the time he spent at my address. I recall the comment that he was on duty at the time. It was anywhere between half an hour and an hour.”

On June 4 the Inspector again went to her home while on duty and was there for more than six hours having sex and lying in bed. The officer claimed he again carried out police work from his laptop while he was there.

The woman told the hearing: “It’s really clear in my head as it was the night before my birthday. He had his radio on my bedside table, listening to the radio while we were engaged in sexual activity. We were having full sex.

“He did not turn it off. It was turned down very, very low. I couldn’t hear clearly what was going on.”

Inspector Lane told the panel: “There was no sexual contact. I’ve never had sex on duty or any sexual contact on duty. My job means everything to me, apart from my family, as ridiculous as that sounds given I had an affair.

“My job has been my constant for the last 23 years. I have been naïve in working from that address. I would never jeopardise my employment with Sussex Police.”

The hearing continues.