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Two police officers have denied sabotaging a string of sex abuse cases, the Old Bailey has heard.

Det Con Sharon Patterson, 48, and former Det Con Lee Pollard, 47, are each charged with three counts of misconduct in a public office.

They are alleged to have taken place at Essex Police between 2012 and 2014.

The pair, who live together in Colchester, were released on bail and are due to stand trial on 14 January next year.

The court was told Ms Patterson allegedly "wilfully misconducted" herself by falsely representing evidence to her supervisor so that no further action would be taken against a male suspect in 2012.

'Destroyed photos'

It is also alleged she created a false Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) document to deceive her supervisor into thinking a decision had been taken not to bring charges against a second male suspect.

Then between December 2013 and January 2014 she is accused of creating a false statement from a witness and passed it off as genuine.

Mr Pollard is accused of removing and destroying four photographs which were "relevant and important exhibits" in an investigation in 2013.

He then allegedly failed to contact the complainant before concluding the investigation as he was directed to do.

In May 2014, during another probe, Mr Pollard allegedly misrepresented evidence to his supervisor for no further action to be taken.

The final charge states he created a false CPS charging document in the summer of 2014 to deceive his supervisors into thinking no further action was being taken.

In the investigation involving a 13-year-old complainant, he allegedly failed to conduct relevant inquiries as he was told, and reported that they had a "negative result".