Sacked police officer given suspended sentence for domestic abuse

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The former officer, who has been sacked from the PSNI, was sentenced on Friday

A former police officer has been given an eight-month suspended jail sentence for abusing his former partner.

Kyle Millar, 28, whose address was given as c/o Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) headquarters, Knock, Belfast, last month admitted one charge of domestic abuse between February 2022 and March 2023.

Millar, who had been suspended on full pay before being sacked last month, was in a relationship with his victim for one year and seven months when the abuse took place.

Sentencing at Londonderry Magistrates' Court on Friday, District Judge Oonagh Mullan said his offending had had a huge impact on the woman.

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District Judge Oonagh Mullan said Kyle Millar's former partner was subjected to treatment she should not have been subjected to

Gambling addiction

At a previous hearing in January, the court was told Millar had subjected the woman to "mental torture" by calling her names and mocking her appearance.

Millar was said to have had a gambling addiction and the victim had given him between £5,000 and £6,000.

Millar constantly verbally abused his victim, the court was told, regularly insulted her and threatened to disclose private photographs of her.

On one occasion he pushed her, causing her to fall and hit her head off a bedside locker.

'Struggling to move forward'

On Friday, Judge Mullan said "this was an extremely unfortunate set of circumstances both for the victim and the defendant to find themselves in such a situation".

The judge said the woman was still struggling to move forward and was also still receiving treatment because of the mental health difficulties resulting from his offending.

She told Millar: "It was a very unfortunate incident which has impacted on both of you. The injured party was subjected to treatment by you which she should not have been subjected to.

"Because of that you are now in an unfortunate situation in that you are no longer in employment."

Millar was given eight months in prison suspended for three years.

Speaking after Millar's sentencing, the PSNI said he had been a serving officer at the time of his offending and had been dismissed after a "swift internal investigation" its professional standards department.

"Anyone who commits domestic abuse crimes of any nature in our community, no matter who they are or what role they play in society, they will be investigated thoroughly and brought before the courts," Det Ch Insp Claire Gilbert said.

"As a police service, we expect the highest standards of professionalism and integrity from all of our police officers, both on and off duty, in accordance with the standards contained in the Police Service of Northern Ireland's code of ethics."

Gilbert said the PNSI had "demonstrated again today, that there is no room in our police service for people who commit any wrongdoing".