Off-duty Sheffield cop had eight-month affair with "vulnerable" crime victim
The disgraced former constable - who resigned during an investigation - had “full intercourse” with the complainant during a consultation, telling her “I’m not here for the treatment”
A an off-duty Sheffield police officer pestered a vulnerable female physiotherapist for “thumb treatment” - having turned up at her house on the pretext of investigating a stolen car.
Robert Veza, 45, sparked an eight-month affair with the woman - whose PTSD was known to trigger self-harm and missing persons appeals - “deliberately taking advantage of his position”, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
The disgraced former constable - who resigned during an investigation - had “full intercourse” with the complainant during a consultation, telling her “I’m not here for the treatment”.
Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told him: “You have brought disgrace upon yourself and an element of shame upon the police force.”
Laura Marshall, prosecuting, described how following that first “entirely consensual” sex in January 2024 Veza would turn up in casual clothes on his way home to his family after work in an unmarked car.
Ms Marshall added: “He would visit her for sex, arriving very late and leaving in the early hours of the morning.”
She said: “He never thought she would tell anybody or complain and even if she did she would not be believed. There was never an allegation of rape.
“But it’s the crown’s case that this defendant actively sought out the complainant in order for this to happen.”
Ms Marshall described how Veza’s contact with the complainant came about after he was allocated her case - a car theft.
In January 2024 he attended her address in an unmarked car at 10am having already clocked off. After discussing the theft he “touched her knee” and then “kissed” her in the “tight” hallway of her home.
He then dropped his trousers - however the pair were disturbed by the complainant’s children coming down the stairs.
Before leaving however, Veza, who was still a probationary officer at the time, had badgered the woman into agreeing to a consultation about his thumbs.
In June 2024 the complainant reported Veza to detective inspector at South Yorkshire Police and he was arrested the following September.
In a statement the complainant described feeling “targeted” and “used” by Veza, adding: “He abused my trust in the police force and left me feeling completely vulnerable”.
Francis Edusei, defending, said his client was originally from Romania where he had a successful career in sales however after moving his family to the UK he entered a police training apprenticeship - becoming an officer in February 2022.
Noting Veza’s “genuine remorse”, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told him: “Had you not been a police officer your conduct would not have amounted to a criminal offence.
“I am not here to sit in judgment of your morality. I am here to punish you and your conduct - you were a police officer and the victim of this crime was a vulnerable woman.
“It’s very important to recall that the sexual aspect of this case was entirely consensual.”
Adding Veza’s life - now a taxi driver - was “in so many respects in tatters”, the judge said: “You have brought disgrace upon yourself and an element of shame upon the police force.
“The reason she appreciated the attention was because of her past difficulties in life. You were a police officer and should not have conducted yourself in that way.
“This is a serious case - a case of this kind is always serious. For a police officer to conduct himself in this way is comprehensively unlawful.”
However the judge said Veza “did not deliberately seek out” the complainant, but “an affair developed,” he said .
Veza, of Buchanan Road, Sheffield, was handed 16 months’ jail suspended for 18 months and a 10-year restraining order.
He admitted misconduct in public office.