GMP call for review of ruling after senior cop keeps job

DISCIPLINARY PANEL RULED SUPERINTENDENT'S BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS FEMALE COLLEAGUE WAS GROSS MISCONDUCT BUT DID NOT SACK HIM

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

A SENIOR GMP officer has been allowed to keep his job despite showing "very poor judgment" by following a junior female colleague towards her hotel room after a boozy policing conference.

A disciplinary panel found Superintendent Roger Pegram guilty of 'gross misconduct' but they decided to hand him a final written warning rather than the sack as the 'threshold for dismissal had not been reached.

GMP bosses, who wanted him sacked, are seeking a judicial review of the decision.

The top GMP cop, who has a masters degree from the University of Cambridge, helped organise a conference in London in his role as vice-chairman of the Society of Evidence Based Policing.

The married officer was alleged to have "made comments and acted in ways that were both sexualised and unwanted" towards a junior female officer at a conference in London in 2022, a published disciplinary ruling reveals.

The alleged incident was said to have happened at the Novotel Hotel in Waterloo where officers from GMP were staying.

Supt Pegram admitted he spoke to the female colleague, described as Officer A, about "personal matters" including "marital difficulties".

When Supt Pegram and Officer A headed back to their rooms, Supt Pegram admitted he stayed in the lift until the third floor where Officer A was staying and got out.

He said he then returned to his room and denied telling her he was drunk and he needed to lie down.