Key Points
- Andrew Fearon, a former North Wales Police detective, took legal action against the force following the way they dealt with a grievance he filed in relation to his former fiancée’s affair with a colleague.
- In 2017, Ms Rebecca Hutt informed her fiancé that she was carrying out an affair with Shaun Parry, who was her colleague at the force.
- Mr Fearon claimed that his mental wellbeing issues arose after North Wales Police mishandled his complaint and contributed to his complex post-traumatic stress disorder and a subsequent break-down and ill health retirement.
- He was seeking compensation exceeding £343,251 and loss of earnings, as reported by the BBC.
- The claim was dismissed at Liverpool County Court by Judge Sarah O’Brien on the grounds that there was no actionable breach of duty by North Wales Police, except failing to inform Mr Fearon about the revocation of his access fob.
- This, according to the judge, failed to cause or contribute to the onset of his psychiatric problems.
- Detective Sergeant Steve Williams handled Mr Fearon’s 2018 grievance and then entered into a relationship with Ms Hutt in 2020, marrying her in 2022.
Wales Police (Wales Times) October 10, 2026 — A former North uk/police/">Wales Police detective has lost a civil claim against the force after alleging that its handling of a complaint about his former fiancée’s affair caused him serious psychiatric injury.
Andrew Fearon brought the action after his relationship with fellow officer Rebecca Hutt ended in 2017. As reported by the Rhyl Journal, Ms Hutt told him that year that she had been having an affair with another North Wales Police officer, Shaun Parry. The couple had been due to marry in September 2017.
Mr Fearon subsequently took sick leave from August until November 2017 because of what the court heard were stress-related problems and depression. After returning to work, he raised a grievance against North Wales Police, arguing that it had failed to tell him about the relationship between Ms Hutt and Mr Parry.
He also asked the force to introduce a policy intended to protect employees from what he described as “sexually predatory employees”, according to the Rhyl Journal.
What did Andrew Fearon allege?
Mr Fearon claimed that North Wales Police caused or contributed to his psychiatric injury through the way it dealt with his original grievance and a later criminal complaint against Ms Hutt. He also criticised the force’s refusal to arrange an independent external investigation, its decision to revoke his access fob, and its failure to inform him that this had happened.
He argued that these matters “progressively destroyed his trust and confidence in the force” and led to his mental breakdown in mid-2021.
The BBC reported that lawyers representing Mr Fearon said the force’s handling of his complaints left him with complex post-traumatic stress disorder. The broadcaster also reported that he sought £343,251 in damages and loss of earnings.
Mr Fearon’s case was that North Wales Police should have referred his complaints to an outside police force. The BBC reported that he made that request four times in 2018 and argued that the failure to do so breached the force’s duty of care towards him.
Who investigated the grievance?
The grievance was handled in 2018 by Detective Sergeant Steve Williams. The Rhyl Journal reported that DS Williams later began dating Ms Hutt in 2020 and married her in 2022.
The BBC reported that Mr Fearon alleged in civil court that the officer appointed as grievance manager had been in a relationship with “RH” identified in other reporting as Rebecca Hutt at the time of the investigation.
However, the court heard evidence that DS Williams produced text messages suggesting his first date with Ms Hutt was in 2020. The Rhyl Journal reported that this contradicted Mr Fearon’s belief that the pair were already in a relationship when DS Williams was assigned to investigate the 2018 grievance.
The BBC separately reported that, during the proceedings, Mr Fearon and his legal representatives acknowledged that DS Williams was not involved with Ms Hutt during the investigation of the complaint.
What did the judge decide?
Judge Sarah O’Brien accepted that the events were “profoundly distressing” for Mr Fearon. However, she found that North Wales Police had not acted in breach of its duty, except for its failure to tell him that his fob had been revoked.
The judge found that DS Williams dealt with Mr Fearon’s initial grievance in 2018 “more than fairly”. She also rejected the suggestion that he had anything to do with the later criminal complaint Mr Fearon made about Ms Hutt.
Judge O’Brien said North Wales Police’s decision to investigate the case itself, using officers with no personal connection to Mr Fearon or Ms Hutt, was “neither irrational nor unreasonable”.
She further found that the force had no obligation to tell Mr Fearon about DS Williams’ relationship with Ms Hutt once DS Williams had disclosed it.
“I find no evidence of corruption, conspiracy, cover-up or favouritism towards Rebecca Hutt,” Judge O’Brien said, as reported by the Rhyl Journal. “I find no evidence that those involved were acting in bad faith.”
The judge added that the decisions made fell within the range of reasonable responses available to North Wales Police and did not amount to negligence, apart from the limited breach involving the failure to inform Mr Fearon that his fob access had been deactivated.
Why was his access fob revoked?
The court heard that, in 2021, Mr Fearon began saying he was “going to arrest” DS Williams. The Rhyl Journal reported that his access fob was revoked because of concerns that he might act on that statement.
Mr Fearon then took sick leave again and never returned to work. He eventually retired from the force because of ill health.
Judge O’Brien found that North Wales Police’s failure to inform Mr Fearon that his fob had been revoked did not cause or materially contribute to his mental illness. The Rhyl Journal quoted her as saying:
“I do not accept that it materially contributed to the serious psychiatric illness upon which this claim is based.”
What happened to the criminal complaint?
Mr Fearon made criminal allegations about Ms Hutt in 2018. The Rhyl Journal reported that no charges were brought against her, even after he appealed the decision to take no further action.
The judge found that DS Williams was not involved in that later criminal complaint.
The Rhyl Journal reported that allegations of inappropriate behaviour were not upheld and that Mr Fearon’s claim for damages and costs was dismissed.
What did earlier court reporting say?
The case had previously been reported by the BBC in July 2026, when Mr Fearon’s civil action was heard at Liverpool Civil Court. The BBC reported that he was engaged to fellow officer Rebecca Hutt, but the relationship ended in 2017 after her affair.
The BBC also reported that Mr Fearon lost access to several police stations after threatening to arrest the officer investigating the affair, and that the court was told this was followed by the onset of his PTSD.
In its earlier coverage, the BBC said the force maintained that there was no evidence that DS Williams and Ms Hutt were in a relationship until long after the investigations had concluded.
The Mirror reported in February 2026 that Mr Fearon alleged a “cover up” and accused North Wales Police of failing properly to address misconduct allegations against his former fiancée. That report said the hearing was scheduled for July in Liverpool.
The Mirror also reported that both Mr Fearon and Ms Hutt had served as detective constables at North Wales Police, and that Ms Hutt’s alleged affair with Detective Constable Shaun Parry had taken place at a police station. Those allegations were reported as claims made in legal proceedings, not as established court findings.
Background of the development
The dispute began with the end of Mr Fearon’s engagement to Ms Hutt in 2017, after she disclosed an affair with colleague Shaun Parry. Mr Fearon then took sick leave, returned to work and raised a grievance about North Wales Police’s handling of the situation.
That grievance was investigated internally by DS Steve Williams in 2018. Mr Fearon later alleged that the force should have referred the matter externally and that its internal handling damaged his mental health.
The relationship between DS Williams and Ms Hutt began in 2020, according to evidence considered by the court, and the couple married in 2022. Mr Fearon argued that the later relationship reinforced his concerns about the original investigation, although the judge found no evidence of bad faith, corruption or favouritism.
The case was heard at Liverpool County Court, with Judge Sarah O’Brien dismissing the claim except for finding a limited breach concerning the revoked fob notification. That breach was not found to have caused or materially contributed to Mr Fearon’s psychiatric illness.
Prediction: what it means for police staff and complainants
For current and former police employees, the ruling is likely to be seen as significant because it indicates that a court may accept that distressing workplace events and an internally investigated grievance do not, by themselves, establish negligence by a police force. Judge O’Brien’s findings suggest that internal investigations can be lawful where the officers involved have no personal connection to the parties and the decisions fall within a reasonable range of responses.
For officers raising grievances, the decision may encourage forces to document disclosure obligations, conflict-of-interest checks and decisions about whether external referral is necessary. Mr Fearon’s case shows that complainants may face a high evidential threshold when arguing that an employer’s grievance handling directly caused psychiatric injury.
For North Wales Police, the dismissal of the damages claim reduces the immediate financial exposure from this litigation. However, the judge’s finding of a limited breach over the failure to notify Mr Fearon that his fob had been revoked may reinforce the importance of clear communication when access, security or workplace restrictions are imposed.
For members of the public, the outcome does not determine whether the original personal allegations were true or false; it concerns whether North Wales Police breached a legal duty in its handling of the complaint. The court found no evidence of corruption, conspiracy, cover-up or favouritism, while also accepting that the circumstances were profoundly distressing for Mr Fearon.
