A POLICE constable who served in the Avon and Somerset Police force has been barred from serving as a police officer again after pursuing an inappropriate relationship with an abuse victim.

Gross misconduct was found proven against the former PC at a one-day hearing held at Avon and Somerset Police’s headquarters in Portishead on Monday, December 18. 

Police say the constable regularly messaged a woman (under the pseudonym Ms A) who he met when she reported an abusive relationship in late 2021, sending 17 calls and 43 messages to her from his work phone over a ten week period.

He reportedly also used WhatsApp on his personal phone to contact her, viewed her accounts on social media, and twice checked her personal profile on an internal electronic recording system without a policing purpose.

He was found to have breached standards by three means, namely through discrediting and undermining public confidence in policing; honesty and integrity, in concealing the communications he had with Ms A; plus authority, respect and courtesy, in pursuing an improper relationship with a person he knew may be vulnerable to an abuse of trust and power.

The panel ruled he would have been dismissed had he not resigned prior to the hearing, which he did not attend.

He was granted anonymity by the independent Legally Qualified Chair, and referred to as 'PC X'.

The former police constable’s actions came to light when a complaint was filed last year.

A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who decided to take on the investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Ayesha Giles, of the Professional Standards Department, said: “Ms A was a person who was in need of the police’s help. Instead she ended up receiving inappropriate contact from one of the officers who had been dispatched to provide that service.

“There can be no excuse for former PC X’s actions. He knew the potential vulnerabilities Ms A would have as a victim reporting domestic abuse, and yet still made a significant amount of contact with her, which was not required for him to professionally carry out his job.

“Former PC X chose to resign before the hearing, and did not attend it to defend his actions.

"It is right and proper that he is barred from serving as an officer in future.

“The outcome of this hearing reinforces our commitment to rooting out inappropriate behaviour, which has no place in policing.

"Public trust and confidence in policing is dependent on such robust action being taken.”