Sex scandal: Tim Reid admitted neglecting emergency police calls in favour of secret liaisons with his lover
A married policeman had secret sex sessions with a witness when he should have been answering 999 calls.
Father of one Timothy Reid, 41, exchanged more than 200 flirtatious texts with Michelle Harper during a two-month affair which cost him his job and his police pension.
The high- speed response driver called at Miss Harper's house for sex when he should have been responding to a call out over a man who was threatening to throw a petrol bomb.
On another occasion they had sex on her sofa while his police radio was still on and he once took two hours off work to visit Miss Harper at her home.
Reid - who even attended a christening party with Miss Harper while on duty and in uniform - would also text her telling her about his day, including the names of criminals he had arrested, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Reid met Miss Harper in January 2009 when he was called out to see her after police received a complaint about her partner.
'Feeling sorry' for her after her ex-partner took away her possessions, he returned with a television and DVD player as gifts.
The pair exchanged phone numbers and began to send 'flirtatious and sexually explicit text messages' before embarking on a two-month affair.
In one text he wrote: 'I fancied you from the start. You have a great smile, your eyes light up and you have a naughty glint in them xx'. Another read: 'I can't believe I have entered into a relationship with a witness, how naughty am I? But I don't regret a thing.'
Reid's illicit liaisons were exposed when a neighbour became suspicious about seeing his patrol car frequently parked outside Miss Harper's home.
Reid - who also used the police national database to find out information about Miss Harper's ex partner - has now been dismissed from Cheshire Police, which he joined in 1994.
Yesterday Reid, of Widnes, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of misconduct in a public office. He also admitted one count under the Data Protection Act after he signed a passport for a friend of Miss Harper's despite barely knowing her.
Nevertheless his wife Julie attended court yesterday to support him - despite having had to stop fostering children as a result of his criminal record.
Justin Hayhoe, prosecuting, told the court how Reid and Miss Harper engaged in sex sessions while the policeman was meant to be on duty responding to emergencies, or on 45 minute 'refreshment' breaks.
Defending Reid, Debra Whyte, said that while the events had had a 'devastating effect' on his wife that they were trying to 'rebuild and move forward'.
Reid wept as a judge agreed to suspend his nine-month prison sentence for a year, saying he had 'considerably punished himself' and was lucky to have the support of his wife.
Judge Adrian Smith told Reid: 'These offences effectively represent two months of complete foolishness in what otherwise was a long and distinguished career as a police officer.
'You have effectively seriously neglected your duties because of your desire to engage in a sexual affair with a woman who you came across in the course of your duties and who became a witness in the case with which you were concerned.'
Judge Smith said the public had to have confidence that police officers would exercise their privileged position in a trustworthy manner.
The court was not told the outcome of the case in which Miss Harper was a witness. Reid was also sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work, and fined £200
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