Nottinghamshire Police officer warned after drunkenly touching colleague
A Nottinghamshire Police officer has been handed a written warning after drunkenly touching a colleague.
A Nottinghamshire Police officer has been handed a written warning after drunkenly touching a colleague on a Christmas night out.
DC Natalie Baker was cleared of gross misconduct, but was found to have committed several acts of misconduct.
A public hearing heard how DC Baker had been drinking with colleagues at a Christmas do before the incident, which happened on 1 December 2024.
DC Baker was heavily intoxicated when her colleagues helped her outside a bar in Nottingham. After helping her order an Uber, a female colleague hugged DC Baker, which was when DC Baker inappropriately touched her on the bottom, over her clothing.
The woman, described in the hearing as Person A did not consent to being touched in a way she believed was sexual in nature.
DC Baker was accused of multiple breaches of the force’s standards of professional behaviour, covering authority, respect and courtesy, and discreditable conduct.
DC Baker admitted she couldn’t remember the incident in full but strongly denied the main allegation against her – saying she would never have acted in such a way.
Any inappropriate contact, she said, was the result of her stumbling towards Person A while intoxicated.
Her legal advocate, Campaspe Lloyd Jacob, also argued that CCTV footage of the incident was unclear and contradicted the evidence of a key witness.
The panel, chaired by DCC Rob Griffin, cleared DC Baker of gross misconduct but determined that her behaviour had amounted to misconduct.
The panel determined that DC Baker had indeed touched Person A in a way that was unwanted and inappropriate, but that intent or motive could not be proven by the available evidence.
DCC Griffin stressed that both DC Baker and Person A were found to have given truthful evidence and that their differing accounts were in no way mutually exclusive.
DC Baker was issued with a written warning.
DCC Griffin said: “When allegations of this nature are raised it is vital that they are thoroughly investigated, which is exactly what has happened here.
“We expect our officers to maintain the highest standards both on and off duty and I hope the public are reassured by the very thorough and open way this incident has been investigated.
“I am thankful to all parties involved for the evidence given and would like to stress that these findings in no way undermine the integrity of an officer found to be a credible, consistent and believable witness throughout these proceedings.”