Sussex police officer given final written warning for assault
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A police officer accepted allegations of misconduct against him after an investigation found he had assaulted a female colleague.
A misconduct hearing was held at Sussex Police headquarters from Monday 18-20 September in front of a panel led by an Independent Legally Qualified Chair (LQC).
LQCs are selected from a list of independent, legally-qualified persons to conduct police misconduct hearings, and are governed by Police Conduct Regulations. LQCs work with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and others to instil and embed as much transparency and proportionality into misconduct hearings.
The hearing was told PC Peter Kay, who was based at Crawley, had grabbed and squeezed the arm of his colleague known as PC B, during an argument off duty, which had caused bruising. Colleagues of PC B later noticed the bruising on her arm and brought it to the attention of her supervisor, which led to a criminal investigation and PC Kay’s suspension from duty.
Whilst the criminal investigation did not result in a prosecution, the force’s Professional Standards Department then progressed a misconduct investigation and referred the matter to a hearing.
At the hearing, PC Kay accepted he had breached Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of Discreditable Conduct and Authority, Respect and Courtesy and the panel found the matters proven as Gross Misconduct. The panel gave the officer an extended final written warning for three years.
Detective Chief Inspector Jon Robeson from the force Professional Standards Department said: “We expect our officers to act with the utmost integrity, and in accordance with the Code of Ethics and the Standards of Professional Behaviour, and we have invested in a comprehensive programme of cultural change towards challenging, reporting and tackling unethical or unprofessional behaviour.
“The actions of this officer in this case fell far short of the standards we expect, which is reflected in the findings by the panel.”