Police officers dismissed
It follows a disciplinary hearing
Two police officers have been dismissed without notice following a gross misconduct disciplinary hearing.
The meeting was in relation to PCs Robert Rowland and Thomas Lightfoot, and was chaired by Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet.
Both officers admitted allegations.
They were accused of breaching standards of behaviour with statements deemed to be discriminatory or offensive.
Some referenced female colleagues and members of the public in a derogatory and/or abusive manner, and some were also racially offensive.
It was also noted that some of the comments advocated violence.
Conduct was found likely to undermine public confidence in the police service.
PC Rowland resigned from Northamptonshire Police a day prior to the hearing being held, and did not attend the hearing.
PC Lightfoot was a serving police officer at the time of the hearing but did not attend.
The Chief Constable considered the available evidence and found the matter proved as Gross Misconduct.
The Chief Constable determined that, had PC Rowland still been a serving Police Officer, he would have been dismissed without notice and determined that the most suitable outcome for PC Lightfoot was dismissal without notice.
The Chief constable added “As the Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police, to hear and read about such vile behaviour, I am disgusted. These Officers are a total disgrace to the public of Northamptonshire, this Force and the wider police service. As I have stated before, I will continue to take the strongest possible action to root out people like these Officers, who should be nowhere near the police service.
"The public, and honourable, decent police officers who work hard through their whole careers to serve the public, deserve no less. The Officers’ conduct is entirely incompatible with continuing to serve. I have no hesitation in dismissing PC Lightfoot without notice and finding former PC Rowland would have been dismissed.”
Speaking after the hearing, Deputy Chief Constable Ash Tuckley said:
“You can’t feel anything other than utter revulsion at the deeply racist, sexist and misogynistic messaging that went on between these two individuals over a long period of time on WhatsApp.
“Furthermore, Lightfoot took it upon himself to take indecent photos on police premises immediately following deployment at a number of serious incidents.
“When these allegations of gross misconduct came to light, the Force moved quickly to hold an accelerated misconduct hearing to ensure they are both removed from policing.
“Their appalling conduct is another depressing blow to the overwhelming majority of hard-working officers in Northamptonshire Police whose primary purpose is to protect the communities they serve.
“Once again, we have taken steps to root out people who have no place in the police service and our zero-tolerance of these types of behaviours remains as solid as ever.
“Our Professional Standards Department, now one of the biggest in terms of the size of our Force, has increased in size in the past year and we have brought in a number of very experienced detectives whose job it is to tackle police-perpetrated crime.
“Within Force we have further tightened our vetting processes and improved reporting channels who want to disclose misconduct issues and we continue to urge staff to come forward if they have concerns in this respect.
“Building the trust and confidence of the public in policing is absolutely imperative as is our unrelenting determination to improve culture and we will continue to go above and beyond in our resolve to do that.”