THE police commissioner for the Thames Valley Anthony Stansfeld has been urged to assure women that his office is safe following a harassment case involving two staff earlier in the year.

Nick Harverson, former head of corporate support for Thames Valley Police, was sentenced to unpaid work and given a restraining order in June for stalking his ex-colleague, Mr Stansfeld’s executive assistant, Charlotte Roberts.

At a meeting of Thames Valley’s police and crime panel, Mr Stansfeld was pushed to assure women that his office is a safe working environment.

The PCC said there had been ‘a bit of a blip’ at the time but that the office was ‘totally back to normal’ now.

City councillor Tom Hayes, who sits on the police and crime panel, challenged Mr Stansfeld, along with other members, to be more forthcoming on the issue.

He, like others, said he was not interested in the details of the incident, but simply wanted to ensure that effective procedures were in place to deal with such issues.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail after the meeting, Mr Hayes said: “The whole point of the panel is to scrutinise and hold accountable the police and crime commissioner and his office. As a directly elected commissioner, Anthony Stansfield needs to account for the way in which his office works and spends public money.

“Every panel member has seen the tabloid reporting of this incident. The panel understands that there’s a confidential procedure for handling such claims and we really don’t want the commissioner to share the ins and outs of the incident — it’s neither right or proper to.

“But first, we have to ensure the office of the commissioner isn’t distracted or diverted from discharging its duty, and it looks like it has as a result of this incident.

“Second, the Prime Minister is rightly calling for a ‘culture of respect’, especially towards women, in the wake of the disgusting Westminster sexual misconduct scandal.

"Women and men should be able to work free from the threat or fear of harassment, bullying or intimidation.”

On June 30, Harverson was sentenced at Oxford Magistrates' Court to 120 hours of unpaid work and handed a restraining order banning him from contact with his victim - who was his former mistress.

The court heard that Harverson and Ms Roberts's 18-month relationship began when they both met at Thames Valley Police HQ where they both worked.

When Ms Roberts ended the relationship, Harverson, who was made redundant from Thames Valley Police, wrote her a letter in which he called her an 'evil person'.

Harverson, who at the time of his sentencing lived in Hallow Furlong, Cassington, stalked her by turning up at her house and trying to enter using his own set of keys while she hid behind the door. He also followed her home and waited at locations he knew she would frequent.

During the meeting on November 17, Mr Stansfeld said ‘rapid’ action was taken the moment the matter was brought to his attention.

Speaking about the effectiveness of his office, Mr Stanfeld said: “There was a bit of a blip at the time but we have procedures in place and carried on as normal and it is totally back to normal today.”

Speaking further on the matter following the meeting, Mr Stansfeld said: “The court case was a private matter which didn’t involve the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner directly, however, a member of staff was a victim of a crime. The wellbeing of staff is important to the OPCC and we ensured that appropriate and ongoing welfare support was provided to the member of staff involved.”