A Scots police sergeant who was driven by a hatred of women has been booted off the force after setting up anonymous social media accounts to troll a female officer. British Transport Police Sergeant Connor Phillips used the account to send "inappropriate, upsetting and derogatory" messages to the woman and her friends, as well as referring to her as 'my b****'.
The 28-year-old referred to his victim as "my b****" and even accused her of making bad comments against another officer as he filed an anonymous report to the force's standards committee. Phillips, who transferred from Dundee BTP to London in 2018, resigned from the Force in March 2022 but was formally dismissed following the hearing.
His actions were said to be a "devious, systematic and highly planned attack" which caused significant distress and concern to the woman. A BTP spokesperson said: "The independent misconduct hearing panel took the view that his actions were driven by misogyny and amounted to sexual harassment."
Detective Superintendent Peter Fulton, Head of BTP's Professional Standards Department, said: "Connor Phillips is not fit to be a police officer and he won't be ever again. Premeditated misogynistic behaviour of this kind by an officer is gravely worrying, and this outcome sends a clear message that it simply will not be tolerated within BTP."
The public misconduct hearing was told that Phillips set up anonymous social media accounts around October 2020 referring to her as "my b****" to colleagues between August and November of that year. The following March he sent an anonymous text claiming to be concerned about her ex-boyfriend and in May texted her again to say "meet up?".
The anonymous report to BTP's Professional Standards Department was filed on July 29, 2021, and earlier that month he removed the officer's body worn video from the police post for a week and then replaced it.
It also emerged that in June 2021 he impersonated being a member of the public to lodge a false complaint against a second officer, using BTP's public facing online complaint system. The panel concluded his actions amounted to gross misconduct, and he would have been dismissed had he still been a serving officer.
Det Supt Fulton added: "Connor Phillips launched a devious, systematic and highly planned attack against another officer which has understandably caused her and those close to her significant distress and concern over a long period of time.
"I would like to commend her courage in coming forward which enabled us to launch a lengthy and complex investigation into his abhorrent activity. I fully support the decision of the panel to dismiss him with immediate effect."
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