Police detective jailed for 18 months after two sexual assaults on colleagues in workplace
7 February 2025, 17:56 | Updated: 7 February 2025, 18:00
A detective sergeant has been jailed for 18 months after sexually assaults on two colleagues at work in two separate incidents, a court has heard.
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Richard Mills, 42, had served as an officer for Greater Manchester Police since 2006.
He was found guilty of assaulting the women twice over the past 10 years.The father-of-two was "enabled" and "emboldened" by a culture within the lower ranks of the force of "you don't report bobbies", a judge said during a sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court.
Mills claimed during the hearing "sexualised banter" was allowed to fester in the workplace. His wife was in the courtroom at the time.
The officer often held conversations with colleagues that had “sexual overturns”, the judge said . His first victim accused him of putting his hand on her crotch after he told her what kind of sex he liked, saying he was not "getting it" from his wife.
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She told others about the incident but did not support an investigation into Mills at the time. He was issed a verbal warning but no misconduct hearing took place.
"You should have learnt your lesson,” the judge said. The second victim said she "froze" when Mills put her hand onto his crotch while in a room with other people."That added to her sense of shame and embarrassment that you felt enabled to do that in that room believing she would not say anything," the judge said.
The women had had their "mental health, careers and their lives blighted" by what Mills had done, the judge added.
He continued: "When police officers commit offences like this, or any other sort of offence, you undermine every other officer because it does damage public trust in police."
One of the victims said, according to the prosecution team: "How do you call the police about the police?"
She added: "I used to be such a happy, smiley and bubbly character and I feel the complete opposite. I just feel sad all the time."Mills’s defence team continually denied the offences.
The defence lawyer said: "He will lose his job as a result of this, the disciplinary proceedings will take their course but there is an inevitability about that."
The circumstances are very much now in the public arena, having been published, and it is extremely humiliating not just for him but for those close to him, including his wife who has attended today."
He said Mills had shown insight into his previous conduct and was no longer "the tactile person he was".
He added: "He would say that what he saw as acceptable banter at the time he now appreciates was unacceptable, particularly in the modern environment, and he will change his approach."
Mills was cleared of three other counts of sexual assault following his trial.
