A newly appointed police officer has been handed a final written warning after kissing a colleague on the cheek and putting her arm around the waist of another.
PC Hayley Pegg, of Northumbria Police, was accused of subjecting four colleagues to unwanted touching. She attended a misconduct hearing at the Old Magistrates' Court in Houghton-le-Spring last month in relation to the alleged conduct.
It was alleged that her conduct breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour, in particular Discreditable Conduct and Authority, Respect and Courtesy, and amounted to Gross Misconduct.
During the misconduct hearing, which took place between July 11 and July 15, a panel found on the balance of probabilities, that the PC Pegg did:
- grab / touch an officer's face
- try to kiss an officer
- kiss an officer on the cheek
The panel found that the touching was intentional, the officer did not consent to this and there was no attempt by PC Pegg to obtain such consent.
The panel also found that PC Pegg did intentionally put her arm around the waist of another officer. They found the officer did not consent to it and there was no attempt by PC Pegg to obtain such consent.
The panel found an allegation against a third colleague was not intentional but was accidental. Another allegation against a fourth colleague was not proven.
Following the five day hearing, the panel found that PC Pegg breached the standard of authority, respect and courtesy. A published report said: "This is because she did not treat her colleagues with respect and courtesy due to touching them when such touching was not consented to. Her behaviour is clearly damaging to the reputation of both herself and of policing generally."
They found that PC Pegg also breached the standard of discreditable conduct. They said: "This is because she has behaved in a manner which could discredit the police service as she failed to maintain the highest standards of behaviour. The conduct could result in members of the public losing trust and confidence in the policing profession."
The panel found that the matters amounted to gross misconduct. They decided a final written warning was "sufficient" when considering the serious nature of the proven allegations, the purpose of the regime and the protection of the public.
They considered whether the warning should be extended beyond the standard two year period and decided that there was no justification in extending it. The panel said the matter did not meet the threshold test for dismissal and a final written warning will properly fulfil the purpose of the misconduct regime.
Supt Steve Ammari, Head of the Professional Standards Department at Northumbria Police, said: "When we became aware of concerns relating to the off-duty conduct of this student officer they were suspended. We carried out a thorough investigation and as a result presented a case to an independently-chaired misconduct hearing where they received a final written warning.
"We would like to take this opportunity to recognise those colleagues who rightly came forward to report their concerns. We have always been clear that we expect officers, staff and volunteers to maintain the highest standards at all times.
"If anyone is found to have fallen below these we are committed to taking appropriate action. We can confirm that the officer remains suspended at this time while we consider the outcome of the hearing."
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