A police officer who kissed a student despite himself in a patrol car is sacked | United Kingdom | News
A police officer kissed a reluctant student in a patrol car when he should have been searching for an injured citizen, an employment panel heard.
PC Graham Salt, 39, has now been sacked after being found guilty of misconduct. He heard Salt stopping the patrol car during a job and asked the 22-year-old student, who had just started her tutoring period, “What would you do if I kissed you now, would your head would fall? .
Salt then took off his seatbelt, pulled her towards him and kissed her, heard the sign. The trainee said the kiss was both uninvited and unwelcome, but stopped again at a nearby industrial estate in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. The panel heard Salt put his hand on her knee without her consent, Live throws reports.
During this time, the agent should have searched for a potentially injured citizen.
Even after her advances, the panel heard Salt later make a FaceTime call during which he got an erection and asked her, “what was she going to do about it”? The student then ended the call.
The Lancashire Police Misconduct Board has been told the employee was previously of good character. While Salt admitted to kissing his fellow officer, he denied doing so without her consent.
The panel noted: “[Salt] was unconvincing regarding other parts of his testimony, for example he stated that he and the PC had a conversation at the police station and he told her he was wrong regarding the questions and she accepted it and they both moved on. Nonetheless, he then contacted her via FaceTime to “make sure she was okay.” There was no need for such additional contact as the matter was resolved at the police station.
“The panel did not find the officer to be a compelling witness. His overall testimony lacked credibility. He was an unreliable witness who tried to avoid difficult questions.”
The panel ruled that Salt did not seek to exploit the junior officer, but rather misinterpreted the situation. They said there had been some flirtatious comments but it was in an atmosphere he had created and the woman had never been interested in him.
He added: “It was not a malicious act, but the officer totally and inappropriately misjudged a situation that he should never have created in the first place. There was an unequal power imbalance that He should have recognized He recognized that he had the He should have helped a young officer find her place in the Gendarmerie rather than considering her as a potential sexual partner.
“The officer should not have engaged in flirtatious behavior with a fellow officer and certainly should not have acted upon it. He should not have attempted to pursue a relationship with her while on duty. He was neglecting his policing responsibilities and duties at the time. He should have been looking for a potentially injured person rather than flirting with an officer and trying to kiss them.”
The panel also noted that the trainee officer suffered harm early in his career, while Salt’s conduct will have undermined the general public’s trust in the police and the perception of Lancashire police.
They concluded that his actions constituted serious misconduct and that the only appropriate sanction was immediate dismissal.
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