Daniel Boulter: Face of disgraced cop as police reveal he worked in rape and serious sexual offences unit

Daniel Boulter, a disgraced former South Yorkshire Police officer accused of spitting in a partner's face during sex and controlling women through 'manipulation and degrading acts,' worked in the force's unit for rape and serious sexual offences, it has been confirmed.

Mr Boulter worked as a Detective Chief Inspector for South Yorkshire Police up until Sunday night (August 6, 2023), when he resigned from the force a matter of hours before he was set to face seven allegations at a misconduct hearing relating to the coercive control of two former partners, and his failure to disclose a number of matters, including two criminal investigations relating to violence, coercive control and voyeurism.

The seven allegations spanned 20 years of Mr Boulter's policing career, while he worked for Northants Police, Lincolnshire Police, and finally South Yorkshire Police.

Mr Boulter admitted to the conduct purported in all seven allegations, as well as the 'particulars' when he resigned from his position, his barrister, Richard Ohme, told the misconduct hearing on Monday (August 7, 2023).

Delivering its findings on Tuesday, August 8, the panel found gross misconduct had been proven in all seven charges, and said he would have been sacked from South Yorkshire Police, had he not resigned. Mr Boulter will now be added to the College of Policing Barred list which means he cannot return to a role in policing in the UK. He 'does not meet the criteria for pension forfeiture as this is not heard in a criminal court,' a South Yorkshire Police spokesperson confirmed.

When asked, a spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police confirmed Mr Boulter had held the position of Detective Inspector of the force's rape and serious sexual offences unit, and had also been Detective Chief Inspector of Crime in Rotherham with the force.

Mr Boulter also previously held a senior role within Lincolnshire Police's Emerald team, which is dedicated to investigating sexual assault and rape, initially as an Acting Inspector and then Inspector, a Lincolnshire Police spokesperson told The Star. He was a detective sergeant in CID with Northants Police by the time he moved to Lincolnshire Police in 2014.

Opening the case in Mr Boulter's absence, John Beggs KC, acting on behalf of the appropriate authority (AA), South Yorkshire Police, said in documents to the panel that it is the AA's case that the charges, if proven - which they subsequently were by virtue of Mr Boulter's acceptance of the charges and the panel's findings - 'reveal a toxic mix of misogyny, coercive and controlling behaviours and dishonesty'.

Mr Beggs said the first of the criminal investigations was launched by Northants Police in 2012, after he was accused of voyeurism. The offence was alleged to have arisen from threesomes Mr Boulter coerced his former partner into having, and then watched without the consent, or knowledge, of all participants.

The case was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service. However, it was not proceeded with due to 'evidentiary insuffiency'. The voyeurism allegation was not one of the seven charges Mr Boulter was accused of, and admitted to, as part of these misconduct proceedings, after the hearing's panel deemed it to be outside their jurisdiction. The details of the alleged conduct was laid out by Mr Beggs during the course of the misconduct hearing, however, in order to inform the panel of the specifics of the first criminal investigation.

The second criminal investigation was launched by Lincolnshire Police in 2018, after Mr Boulter took up a position with the force in 2014. The investigation related to the alleged treatment of another of Mr Boulter's partners, Ms E, resulting in Mr Boulter being interviewed on suspicion of coercive and controlling behaviour, threats to kill, using violence and common assault.

Describing the form that behaviour took, Mr Beggs told the panel: “She alleged that Daniel Boulter inter alia (among other things) belittled and disparaged her, spat in her face during sex, required her to forward messages to other men to him: the panel will note the similarities in the emotional blackmail and control that she describes by Daniel Boulter, compared with previous females, including his furious tempers about trivial perceived slights.”

Ms E also told Lincolnshire Police about a particularly violent incident in which he ‘dragged her out of bed by the arm, dragged her downstairs, whereupon he pinned her against the wall with one hand across her throat and told her how much he hated her, calling her a horrible s**g’. 

During the same incident, Mr Boulter is alleged to have told her that his ‘mother and her friends from an estate in Grimsby would chop her up into little pieces and bury her in the garden’. 

Mr Boulter's alleged coercive control of Ms E was one of the seven allegation he admitted to on Sunday, the hearing heard.

Lincolnshire Police dropped the investigation, and did not refer it to the CPS, after deeming there to be a lack of evidence.

A second charge admitted by Mr Boulter related to his coercive control of another former partner, while the remaining accepted charges arose from his failure to disclose matters, including the criminal investigations he was subject to in vetting forms to Lincolnshire Police and South Yorkshire. He also omitted to declare his gambling addiction and life-long friendship with a known career criminal who has served at least three stints in prison.

Speaking after the panel's findings were returned, a South Yorkshire Police spokesperson described Mr Boulter as a 'man who had controlled the lives of two women through manipulation and degrading acts'.

Head of Professional Standards, Detective Superintendent Delphine Waring added: “The integrity of any police force is based on the honesty of those within it. Daniel Boulter circumvented the system with dishonesty and lies as he knew the truth would have ruled him out of working for South Yorkshire Police.

“He has behaved in a deplorable manner towards women, carrying out acts which were intentional, premeditated and repeated.

“However, we must also recognise this demonstrated errors in our vetting process in 2019. Our vetting procedures must be able to withstand the challenges of those who seek to undermine them.

"We must be professionally curious such that the answers to questions are checked against any other information we may have available to us. Since these allegations came to light we have carried out a complete overhaul of our vetting processes and restructured the department. As a result, we are now confident that a transferee with this background would not be able to enter the force today.”