Lincolnshire police officer cleared of ‘unwanted’ sexual conduct towards junior female colleague
A two day police misconduct hearing took place at the Myle Cross Community Centre in Macaulay Drive, Lincoln
A Lincolnshire police officer has been cleared of an allegation of ‘unwanted’ sexual conduct.
The officer, who was referred to as ‘officer A’ during a misconduct hearing this week had been accused of making ‘unwanted and inappropriate’ conduct towards a junior female colleague, who was referred to as ‘person A’.
The incident was alleged to have taken place during a social night out on October 9, 2024.
But a police misconduct panel has found the allegation to be ‘not proven’ on the grounds that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the allegation.
A two day police misconduct hearing took place at the Myle Cross Community Centre in Macaulay Drive, Lincoln.
The hearing was originally expected to last for three days but the panel delivered its verdict at the end of the second day, Tuesday March 3.
On Tuesday, the panel was shown CCTV footage from the night of the alleged incident and also questioned officer A about the incident.
Officer A denied the allegation and said that “no sexual, inappropriate or unwanted” physical contact took place.
The officer did acknowledge that he was “feeling the effects” of the alcohol that he had consumed at the social event, but he denied that his judgement had been impaired by this.
Deputy chief constable Michaela, Kerr from Leicestershire Police, said that the panel had given “careful consideration” to all of the evidence available, but ruled that the allegation that officer had made “inappropriate” sexual advances towards person A was “not proven”.
But DCC Kerr, who was chairing the panel, said that it acknowledged that the officer had been under the influence of alcohol and that it was likely that his judgement had been impaired by this.
The panel did not find person A’s account of the alleged events to be “untruthful” and it did acknowledge that she may have felt “uncomfortable” in the presence of the officer.
DDC Kerr said that the panel did find the officer’s overall behaviour at the event to be “boorish” and lacked judgement.
Officer A was therefore found to have not breached the professional standards of authority, respect and courtesy or discreditable conduct.
The alleged incident does not amount to gross misconduct and no further action will be taken.