In 2026, James McClements, a former Dorset Police officer, was jailed for 15 months after the Court of Appeal quashed his original suspended sentence for misconduct in public office involving a vulnerable domestic abuse victim.
James McClements pleaded guilty on 10 April 2026 to one count of misconduct in public office. The court heard that McClements met the victim in November 2023 when he attended her address as a responding police officer following a domestic abuse incident involving her former partner. McClements gave the victim his personal contact details and entered into an inappropriate relationship with her while involved in ongoing police proceedings against her former partner. Between November 2023 and May 2024, McClements improperly accessed Dorset Police systems on seven occasions to view records relating to the victim and her ex-partner. He also actively discouraged her from reporting a breach of bail conditions by her former partner because McClements was at her address at the time.
Following an investigation by Dorset Police’s counter-corruption unit, McClements resigned from the force in April 2025. On 17 June 2026, he was initially sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to an eight-month suspended prison sentence. Following a referral by the Law Officers under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, the Court of Appeal quashed the original sentence on Wednesday, 29 July 2026. It replaced it with an immediate custodial sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment.
Following his conviction for misconduct in public office, McClements will remain subject to statutory public protection monitoring and mandatory notification procedures upon any eventual release from custody.
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