Former Lancashire Police officer jailed for coercive control after using police database to track woman
A former Lancashire Police officer has been jailed after admitting coercive and controlling behaviour towards a woman.
Michael Harvey, 64, pleaded guilty to engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour between December 2015 and July 2016.
He was sentenced to 30 months in prison at Preston Sessions House on Thursday (February 5) and given a 10-year restraining order.
Harvey, who worked as a detective in Lancashire Police’s Sexual Offenders Management Unit before retiring in 2018, had also previously admitted unauthorised access to computer material.
The computer offence related to Harvey accessing police systems without a legitimate purpose in 2012 and 2013 after meeting the victim by chance at an Asda store in Rawtenstall.
He entered her vehicle registration into police databases and later accessed systems again to obtain her landline number.
The pair began a relationship after meeting again later that year.
The court heard the victim became increasingly concerned by Harvey’s behaviour over time, including efforts to isolate her and emotional manipulation.
Whenever she tried to end the relationship or asked him to leave her home, he would threaten to take his own life.
In 2015, after the victim challenged him about messages to other women, Harvey called her at work and implied he would kill himself if the relationship ended.
The offences were reported to police in July 2022 and Harvey was arrested at his home in Skelmersdale in October 2023.
Harvey had earlier pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour. He was cleared of three counts of rape following a trial last year.
Detective Constable Jodie Nolan, from Lancashire Police’s East RASSO team, said: “Harvey is a master manipulator who used empty threats and emotional blackmail to launch a calculated campaign of control over the victim.
“She has been through a harrowing ordeal and I want to praise her for the strength she has shown throughout this process.”
Superintendent Pete Reil, from Lancashire Police’s Professional Standards Department, said Harvey’s behaviour had “no place in policing”.
He added: “We are committed to protecting women and girls from all forms of harm and will do everything in our power to put perpetrators before the courts – no matter who they are.”
Support is available for anyone affected by domestic abuse through Victim Support Lancashire.