Misconduct outcomes
View details of recent misconduct outcomes:
PC Justin Robbie
1 November 2024
An officer has been dismissed without notice following a misconduct hearing.
PC Justin Robbie, who was based in Bristol, has also been barred from working in policing in the future.
A panel, led by a Legally Qualified Chair (LQC), found gross misconduct allegations were proven relating to sexual impropriety, involving inappropriate requests, communication and an unsolicited image being sent by PC Robbie to a female who was working for Avon and Somerset Police at the time.
Following the outcome we issued a statement on our website which can be found through this link
PC Philip Paul Nicholls
22 October 2024
A misconduct panel, led by an independent Legally Qualified Chair, has made a finding of misconduct in the case of a police officer who admitted sending sexualised messages to a vulnerable woman through social media.
At a public hearing held at Avon and Somerset Police headquarters, PC Philip Paul Nicholls, was cleared of gross misconduct and handed a final written warning, to last two years.
The hearing heard that both parties had deleted all messages between them.
Temporary Superintendent Sharon Baker, the current head of the Professional Standards Department, said: “An independent Legally Qualified Chair sat with a panel, which heard and considered all the evidence and came to this decision. We respect the panel’s findings.
“As a police service we believe that transparent and open misconduct proceedings demonstrate our commitment to maintaining and improving standards of professional behaviour.”
Former officer PC Connor Shefford
26 September 2024
A misconduct hearing panel has found a former police officer who engaged in inappropriate and intimidating behaviour during an off-duty social event committed gross misconduct and would have been dismissed if he hadn’t already resigned.
Connor Shefford, who was based in South Gloucestershire, will now be barred from policing and other law enforcement agencies.
The misconduct hearing was led by a Legally Qualified Chair who is independent of policing.
Following the hearing, we issued a statement on our website
Anonymised hearing outcome report for former officer PC Connor Shefford (PDF)
PC Rose Wilson
24 September 2024
An officer has been dismissed without notice and barred from policing after a misconduct hearing heard she failed to investigate two incidents of assault.
A panel, led by an independent Legally Qualified Chair, concluded that gross misconduct had been proven against PC Rose Wilson.
Following the hearing, we issued a statement here
Former officer PC Oliver Hampson
16 August 2024
A police officer would have been dismissed without notice had he not resigned ahead of an accelerated misconduct hearing.
Gross misconduct was found against PC Oliver Hampson at the hearing chaired by Chief Constable Sarah Crew.
PC Hampson, based at Weston-super-Mare, admitted one count of gross misconduct. This related to working as a driver for private ambulance companies, while employed by Avon and Somerset Police, after having been refused permission to do so.
Following the hearing, we issued this statement
Hearing outcome report for former officer PC Oliver Hampson (PDF)
Former officers A and B
16 August 2024
Two former officers who used excessive force and discriminated against a vulnerable woman in Bristol have been barred from policing following a misconduct hearing.
A panel, led by a Legally Qualified Chair (LQC) who is independent of policing, ruled the actions of the two officers as gross misconduct, and said they would have been dismissed if they hadn’t already resigned. They will now be added to a barred list preventing them from working in policing or other law enforcement agencies again.
The decision to grant the officers anonymity was made by the Legally Qualified Chair.
At the time of the outcome, we issued a statement here
Former officer PC Benjamin Kirk
5 August 2024
A former police officer who shared and failed to challenge highly offensive and discriminatory WhatsApp messages has been barred from policing and other law enforcement agencies following a misconduct hearing.
Benjamin Kirk, who joined Avon and Somerset Police in October 2020 as a student officer after transferring from another force, was found to have committed gross misconduct following a hearing held in front of a panel, led by an independent Legally Qualified Chair.
The hearing followed an investigation carried out by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into a WhatsApp group involving officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, where Mr Kirk had served prior to joining Avon and Somerset Police.
We’ve been unable to publish the outcome of the hearing, which was held in August, until a hearing for the other former Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers had concluded.
You can read our full statement here
Hearing outcome report for former officer PC Benjamin Kirk (PDF)