A FIFE POLICE OFFICER HAS BEEN SENTENCED
A Fife police officer has been added to the sex offenders register following a conviction for domestic abuse and indecent communication directed at a former partner.At Falkirk Sheriff Court, Steven Harker, 39, who is listed as being from Police Scotland’s professional standards division, denied the charges but was found guilty of a domestic abuse campaign that lasted four years.
He was convicted of repeatedly accessing his victim’s phone, viewing her messages, images, and internet search history, and tearing up her diary.
He was also convicted of sending sexualized messages on WhatsApp repeatedly and not complying with her pleas to cease communication.
The court agreed that the actions were either for sexual gratification or intended to shame, distress, or cause alarm to the woman.
The incidents took place at a property in Dunfermline.
An allegation of sexual assault at a Pitlochry hotel was dismissed as unproven.
Some allegations related to violence, sexualized conduct, controlling behaviour, and downloading the victim’s dashcam footage were removed from the domestic abuse charge.
Harker’s bail was extended, with sentencing delayed until December 18 to allow for background reports.
Previously, in October 2022, Harker and a colleague were acquitted of charges of perjury linked to testimony in a Dunfermline trial.
—————————————————————————————————— SENTENCING UPDATE —————————————————————————————————— A police officer at the centre of a disturbing abuse case has walked free from court without punishment for sending indecent messages to his former partner — despite a jury finding he ignored her pleas to stop.
Steven Harker, 40, a serving officer from Fife, was handed an absolute discharge at Falkirk Sheriff Court for sending sexually explicit WhatsApp messages, meaning no punishment and no criminal record for the offence.
Jurors heard that on a single day Harker sent a stream of sexualised messages to his ex, continuing even after she made it clear she wanted him to stop.
The jury concluded the messages were sent either for sexual gratification or to humiliate, distress or alarm her.
Incredibly, the court ruled that placing Harker on the sex offenders register would be “disproportionate”, as any sentence beyond an absolute discharge would have triggered mandatory registration.
Sheriff Craig Harris said five messages were sent within just 16 minutes, with three sent after the victim explicitly told him to stop, but described them as a “single course of conduct” following what he said was an initially consensual exchange.
However, the indecent messages were only part of a wider pattern of abuse.
Harker was also convicted of domestic abuse spanning four years, during which he repeatedly searched his former partner’s phone, checked her private messages, photos and internet history, and even ripped up her personal diary.
The original charge listed 32 separate allegations, though the jury convicted him of three.
The sheriff said that if only those incidents had been prosecuted, the case would not even have reached a jury.
For the domestic abuse, Harker was ordered to complete 70 hours of unpaid work and placed under nine months of supervision.
The court heard the officer is now “likely” to lose his job, bringing a dramatic fall from grace for a man once trusted to uphold the law.
The case has sparked anger over how a police officer convicted of indecent communications and domestic abuse was able to avoid the sex offenders register — and walk away from one of the charges without punishment at all.
