A police officer has been sacked for punching a man in the face in an unprovoked attack during a night out with colleagues.
Described as a “fit of youthful stupidity”, PC Jedd Perry, 21, was off-duty when the incident took place in a Bristol city centre pub in August 2021.
According to Bristol Live, it was in response to PC Perry believing the victim was sexually assaulting his girlfriend while on the dancefloor of the Green House on College Green. He struck the man twice in the face.
Bristol-based PC Perry has since been dismissed without notice at an Avon & Somerset Police misconduct hearing on Friday, January 20.
The former student officer admitted misconduct but denied gross misconduct at the hearing.
He said upon seeing the victim lay his hand on the lower back of his girlfriend, PC Jennifer Daly, he was right to defend her.
However, during a four-day long hearing at force headquarters in November, the panel ruled that the attack was unprovoked, his actions unjustified and there was “no reasonable basis for a belief that PC Daly was being sexually assaulted”.
Barrister George Thomas, representing the force, said: “PC Perry is extremely fortunate the member of the public was not injured. PC Perry was drunk at the time, possibly very drunk.
“The assault was entirely unprovoked and he was entirely to blame. PC Perry is perhaps lucky he did not face prosecution.”
Thomas went on to say that the police’s role is to protect the public from violence, not to be the perpetrators of it, and that the incident undermines public confidence in the police.
PC Perry’s barrister, Sarah Barlow, argued that he rather than dismissal, he should receive a final written warning.
She said: “At the time he was 21 and there is a significant degree of immaturity in this case. There is a degree of youthful stupidity. There is reputational harm but there was no actual physical harm.
“PC Perry did not face prosecution – there is no conviction or criminal offence. There was an unjustified punch. It was not premeditated, it was drunken and of a brief duration.”
Mr Thomas argued that the standards of professional behaviour were not flexible depending on an officer’s age.
Legally Qualified Chair Adrian Phillips announced the sanction. He described the victim’s behaviour as disrespectful, however the attack instigated by PC Perry was unprovoked.
