23-04-2025
Drunk police officer told colleague ‘I bet you're a big boy'
A woman police officer groped a colleague during a drunken night out and told him 'I bet you're a big boy aren't you?', a disciplinary hearing was told.
Pc Olivia Clinton, 30, is alleged to have then groped her colleague a second time over the crotch and said: 'I bet you're really fit, aren't you?'
Later in the night out in Eastbourne with fellow officers, Pc Clinton, who was 'extremely intoxicated', told a fellow female officer she was 'really sexy' before groping her breast, the disciplinary panel heard.
PC Clinton, who has since resigned from Sussex Police, was barred from serving as an officer again, and told she would have been sacked if she had still been serving.
The hearing in Lewes was told Pc Clinton had joined fellow officers at a night out in a pub and was bought several drinks.
One colleague, named as Pc B, felt a hand grope his bottom while he was at the bar and initially assumed it was his partner, who was among the group.
But when he turned around, he saw Pc Clinton, who told him: 'I bet you're a big boy aren't you?' Later, she wrapped her arms around his waist as he stood at the bar, before sliding her hands down to his crotch.
After the group joined another gathering of officers, she groped the breast of a female officer, named as Pc A.
Sarah Taylor, counsel for Sussex Police, said: 'Both of those touching incidents amounted to a sexual assault..
'She was spoken to directly afterwards. There was a discussion about their shock at what had taken place.
'Pc Clinton was very intoxicated at the time. She was collected by her partner later that evening after officers called him and he came to get her.
'She has no recollection of either of the allegations.
'She was appalled and ashamed of herself and that she made anyone feel uncomfortable or upset. She expresses apologies to both of the victims.'
The disciplinary panel was told Pc Clinton, who joined the force as a PCSO in 2019 and became a full officer in 2022, was on a diet at the time and the lack of food had contributed to her intoxication.
In mitigation, Det Chief Insp Chris Thompson, of Sussex Police Federation, said that since the incident, the former officer had essentially given up alcohol.
Peter Gardner, the force's assistant chief constable, said: 'We find should Pc Clinton have been a serving officer, she would have been dismissed without notice and she will be placed on the barred list. Alcohol does not abdicate personal responsibility.'
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