Lying Hampshire police officer spared jail after claiming she was attacked and raped by imaginary ex-boyfriend

Nadia Thurley, 29, a probationary officer with Hampshire Police, alleged she had been assaulted 14 times, including being raped, over a seven-month period.

She would arrive at work at Southampton central police station with injuries to her face and tell colleagues she had been attacked by her ex-partner, Dan Jones.

Bristol Crown Court heard that more than 150 officers investigated Thurley’s allegations and examined more than 800 hours of CCTV footage.

Detectives installed covert surveillance equipment opposite Thurley’s home in the New Forest, to catch Jones red handed.

In July 2021 Thurley made two further allegations of assault, claiming Mr Jones had attacked her in her home.

Detectives examined the camera and found no evidence of anyone entering or leaving her home, and she was later charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice.

Thurley, who has complex post-traumatic stress disorder, denied the offences but was found guilty after a trial.

Kaj Scarsbrook, prosecuting, said: “From December 2020 to July 2021 she began to describe to colleagues an escalating campaign of unwanted contact of stalking and intimidation, and culminating in physical and sexual violence, from an ex-partner.”

The court heard that in October 2020 Thurley attended a call where a colleague was stabbed in the neck.

Thurley was signed off work and only returned two months later, shortly before she started making false allegations.

In March 2021 the defendant was on a Zoom call to colleagues from home when she “abruptly” left. She later claimed Mr Jones had forced entry to her home and raped her.

“She told a colleague that the rape had made her fall pregnant,” Mr Scarsbrook said.

“Miss Thurley was offered support from specialist officers, including sexual offence officers, and provided with a variety of alarms.

“Miss Thurley provided officers with contradictory accounts, and as to identification evidence for Mr Jones, she gave a range of heights and build and a range of dates for their relationship.

“She could provide no contact details or photographs.

“In order to capture evidence of Mr Jones a covert surveillance camera was set up opposite her property, following the 11th allegation.”

After reporting the final two attacks, Thurley refused medical attention and declined to make a statement to police.

Later, Thurley told a colleague she had suffered a miscarriage and again refused to seek medical attention.

Mr Scarsbrook added: “It is fortunate that due to the invention of Dan Jones, no innocent party suffered consequences.

“But there was a serious and substantial impact upon the police force.”

In a statement to the court, Deputy chief constable Sam de Reya said Thurley’s crimes had “inevitably damaged the reputation of Hampshire Police”.

“Investigations into the allegations themselves occupied thousands of hours of police time and police resources were diverted from other victims of crime to respond to her reports,” she said.

“The officers undertook overtime specifically to locate Mr Jones and they themselves feel let down and disappointed. Her actions have been felt across the organisation.”

Thurley had become a police officer in April 2020, having previously been a civilian investigator.

Psychiatrists could not determine the cause of the PTSD – whether it was a result of the stabbing incident or by the allegations Thurley was making against Mr Jones.

Since her conviction, Thurley has been sacked from Hampshire Police by a disciplinary panel.

Nicholas Cotter, defending, said: “I understand people are angry, particularly those that work within the police service, and resources could have potentially been diverted elsewhere.

“There is an element of a lack of sophistication, and they are cries for help, in my submission.”

Imposing an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, Judge Moira Macmillan said: “You don’t need me to tell you that I have to pass sentence for some really serious offences, and they are made more serious by the context in which you committed these offences, that you are a serving police officer at the time.

“I am satisfied that your conduct did have a serious impact upon the administration of justice.

“Your behaviour and the number of complaints you made gave rise to 11 investigations, leading to 157 different police officers being tasked with matters connected to those investigations, and many, many hours of police time has been spent reviewing the complaints you made initially, and the surveillance footage from your home.”

Thurley was also ordered to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work and complete 40 days of rehabilitation activity.