A former West Yorkshire Police probationer who admitted an affair with a senior officer and was investigated over contact with a convicted drug dealer will not face a police misconduct hearing, the force said.
West Yorkshire Police said a review of misconduct matters took place after Caitlin Howarth, 25, was acquitted in a criminal case alleging misconduct in public office and that "this established there was no case to answer." Howarth is no longer a serving officer.
Howarth, from Bingley, West Yorkshire, was weeks into her policing career when she formed a sexual relationship with then-Chief Superintendent Daniel Greenwood, the force's Covid enforcement chief for Bradford. Greenwood, 42, admitted gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing and a panel found he had abused his position of trust and responsibility. He resigned from the force two days before a formal sacking could be imposed.
Investigators concluded Greenwood, a father of two and at the time earning about £93,000 a year, flouted lockdown rules by meeting Howarth for trysts while he was responsible for enforcing stay-at-home orders. The pair exchanged messages and images and had sexual encounters in 2021, according to material presented at Greenwood's misconduct hearing.
Howarth told investigators she had developed feelings after a difficult period in her personal life and said the encounters were not motivated by Greenwood's rank. She said Greenwood had asked her to delete messages and images and that he had removed material from her iCloud at his request, she told investigators.
The relationship came to light in November 2021 during an anti-corruption inquiry that included Howarth's contact with Joseph Shaw, a man later convicted in a heroin supply plot. Prosecutors charged Howarth with misconduct in public office, but that criminal case was dropped last year. Following her acquittal, the force carried out a misconduct review and concluded there was no disciplinary case to pursue.
Shaw, who appeared on Channel 4's First Dates in 2017, met Howarth via the dating app Tinder and they went on one date, authorities said. Shaw, then aged in his late 20s and later 31, was jailed for six-and-a-half years in January 2023 after admitting involvement in a drugs supply plot with his brother; court records indicate he has since been released.
Greenwood, once regarded as a candidate for higher rank at West Yorkshire Police, told investigators the relationship had been "habitually initiated" by Howarth and that she found older men more attractive, according to material disclosed at his hearing. Howarth denied that rank influenced her actions.
During Greenwood's disciplinary process, it emerged he attempted to erase digital evidence from a mobile device. The panel found his conduct breached standards expected of a senior officer and that he had abused the trust inherent in his role. Greenwood has since left policing and now runs a cheesemaking business in Bingley.
West Yorkshire Police declined to comment beyond the statement that the misconduct review found no case to answer in Howarth's matters. Howarth has maintained a public profile on social media since leaving the force, posting photographs from travel and leisure activities.
The force's handling of both the criminal and disciplinary strands of the inquiry reflects an overlap of anti-corruption, criminal and professional standards processes that followed the revelation of the relationships in 2021. Greenwood's disciplinary finding remains on record and his departure from the force was recorded as a resignation prior to dismissal.
Court and disciplinary documents show investigators examined the circumstances in which a serving senior officer engaged in conduct inconsistent with enforcement responsibilities during the Covid pandemic and whether a junior officer had failed to disclose associations with criminal figures. The force's review concluded that, after the criminal proceedings ended, no further disciplinary action against Howarth was proportionate or warranted.