Police officer who lied to colleague about having cancer during affair is guilty of gross misconduct

When PC Max Foster was seeing another officer between October 2019 and July 2021, he told her that he was receiving treatment for cancer and his father had died after being diagnosed with a serious illness.

It was also revealed that the married father-of-one had relationships with another two serving officers, between 2017 and 2020, and told both of them that he had cancer and his father was dying.

A misconduct panel ruled that he would have been dismissed for gross misconduct if he had not already resigned, as his actions “amounted to domestic abuse” even though he was not violent.

At a disciplinary hearing, the panel was told the woman was “deeply upset and felt humiliated” when she found out he was lying and his behaviour had “a huge detrimental impact on her emotional health and wellbeing”.

She said she changed her shifts so she could take him to York Hospital, believing that he was visiting his father, and he would walk out of the hospital after a couple of hours in tears.

They went on a number of day trips to Leeds and Harrogate, but he would often claim he had received phone calls from ‘York Hospital’ and leave, or cancel on her at the last minute.

When she went away on holiday with her family to Centre Parcs in June 2021, Foster phoned her to say his father had died.

Foster then claimed that he had cancer again, after previously undergoing chemotherapy, and an MRI scan revealed he had a shadow on his lungs. In July, he phoned the officer to say he felt suicidal and had taken an overdose.

The officer said she “suffered serious stress” when she was trying to support Foster, claiming it caused her to develop stomach ulcers and suppressed her immune system.

When her friends became worried about her, they made enquiries on social media and found out that Foster was a married father of one.

In a statement, Foster said he “invented a story about cancer” because he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder but did not want to talk about it.

He also said the woman – who was referred to as Officer A to protect her identity – wanted more from their relationship, and he made excuses to avoid seeing her.

In a ruling, the misconduct panel said he “deliberately engaged in a calculated deception involving serious dishonesty and controlling behaviour”.

It added: “His deception and emotional manipulation had the purpose of maintaining an intimate relationship. Although no violence was used by former PC Foster, the panel considered that his behaviour towards Officer A amounted to domestic abuse.

“The panel are in no doubt that former PC Foster’s behaviour, if known, would seriously harm public confidence in policing. The public expects police officers to act with integrity at all times and to treat their colleagues with respect.

“There are significant public concerns at present about the behaviour of some male police officers towards women, and this case would only add to those concerns.”