Written warning for police officer over claims he touched zip on trousers of female colleague

HEARING FINDS THAT HIS CONDUCT HAD NOT BEEN SEXUAL AND HE HAS SHOWN 'GENUINE REMORSE'

- By RUCSANDRA MOLDOVEANU

A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Police officer has been handed a written warning after touching the zip of one of his female colleagues’ trousers.

PC Jamie Faulkner was subjected to a misconduct hearing after it was claimed he failed to maintain personal boundaries with another officer, referred to as Officer A, between January 1, 2023, and June 21, 2023.

This included one allegation of an incident on or around June 21, when PC Faulkner “interfered” with the zip on Officer A’s trousers in a manner that was inappropriate and/or sexual.

The panel described Officer A as a reliable witness and, although her account was “broadly consistent’, it felt as though her recall of some events “may have been tainted by time” Officer A also “understandably” looked back on some of the previous events, such as PC Faulkner hugging her or touching her hair, when it was suggested to her that he was bisexual, rather than gay.

PC Faulkner, who joined the force in May 2022, has denied this, however, telling the panel during Tuesday’s hearing he is “definitely gay” and he’d only told some colleagues he was bisexual to fit in better.

Chairing the panel, assistant chief constable Rob Griffin said: “We found, on balance, that this had an impact on her view as to whether PC Faulkner's conduct had been sexual.” The panel added that the repeated touching and/or plaiting of Officer A's hair occurred, as did the touching of her trouser zip, by PC Faulkner.

According to another officer, DC Maddy Flint-Foster, PC Faulkner had told Officer A that her fly was undone and then touched her zip.

The panel described this as “likely the most accurate version of what happened” ACC Griffin said: “Having made these findings, the panel concluded that PC Faulkner had not been sexually attracted to Officer A at any time, nor had he wanted or attempted to have any intimate relationship with her”