Judge orders new inquiry on policewoman who lied about daughter’s cancer

Rachel Hewitt, 39, was due to be sentenced at Hull Crown Court today after earlier pleading guilty to fraud and misconduct in a public office.

But Judge Simon Jack said he wanted police to investigate the character references she supplied to court and comments she made to the author of a pre-sentence report.

Speaking to Hewitt’s barrister, Heidi Cotton, and referring to the character references, the judge said: “The picture they present is completely at odds with the offences your client has committed.

“Since your client is a convincing and practised liar, I find it difficult to take at face value.”

The judge said if it transpired the references were not genuine, a possible charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice could be brought.

Hewitt, of Ash Grove, South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, claimed she had to miss work because her daughter needed chemotherapy and an operation to remove a tumour.

She pleaded guilty to fraud and misconduct in a public office when she appeared at Hull Crown Court at an earlier hearing.

The charges relate to the period between January 1 2009 and October 10 last year when she was working for North Yorkshire Police.

Hewitt denied a further charge of fraud relating to a request for a career break to look after her daughter, which the Crown agreed it would not proceed with.

Hewitt was granted bail today while the latest police investigations are carried out and told she will be sentenced at Hull Crown Court on July 6.