Latest news with #policeconduct
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Former Wiltshire Police constable guilty of gross misconduct
A former police constable has been found guilty of gross misconduct after being convicted for a child sex Geering, 44, from London, was found to have breached standards of professional behaviour - namely honesty, integrity and discreditable month he was sentenced to 28 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to attempted sexual communication with a the misconduct hearing on Tuesday, it was determined had he not previously resigned from Wiltshire Police, he would have been dismissed without notice. He has also been placed on the Sex Offenders' register for seven years, and will be unable to work in policing in the believed he was messaging with a child under 16 when he used Snapchat to engage in sexual was arrested in April 2024 as part of an operation by a team at South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU), which worked to tackle offences online including child sexual abuse and was suspended from duty and resigned from the force two months later. Conduct 'incompatible' Wiltshire Police Dep Ch Con Mark Cooper said: "Our communities rightly expect the highest standards of professional behaviour from all our officers and staff."Geering's conduct is simply incompatible with that expected of Wiltshire Police. As soon as we were made aware of this matter, he was immediately suspended."We continue to encourage and enable all members of our organisation to report concerns they have regarding a colleague's behaviour and we won't hesitate to investigate without fear or favour."
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Married police officer who sent hundreds of messages to a woman who reported a crime in a bid to try to have sex with her is sacked
A constable who tried to have sex with a woman who reported a crime has been fired after an investigation into his behaviour. PC Matthew Peall, who had sent hundreds of flirty messages to a witness asking if she had a 'high sex drive' and if she was 'up for everything', was found guilty of committing gross misconduct. He badgered the care-home employee who reported the burglary of an elderly client with frequent text messages, emails and phone calls both on and off duty, which made her 'uncomfortable'. The married cop, who worked for Kent Police, allegedly told the woman in 2019 'it would just be for sex' after she highlighted that he had a wife and children, adding 'it's sex, nothing more, you know my situation', it was reported in The Independent. A panel at the Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) proved at the end of a three-day disciplinary hearing that PC Peall had breached the police professional standards of behaviour relating to honesty and integrity, authority, respect and courtesy, duties and responsibilities, and discreditable conduct. They found that 86 per cent of the messages he had sent were of a personal nature and nothing to do with the investigation. PC Peall, who is based in Canterbury, had even tried to arrange a meeting with the woman to allegedly make a statement and suggested she make sure her daughter is not at home when he visits. He had also told her that he had made his way to her house unannounced but turned back when he thought he should better confirm with her first. The witness told a jury at Southwark Crown Court last year that the pair chatted about general topics the first time she gave a statement but had mentioned an ex-partner had cheated on her. When she provided a second statement at a separate occasion, where then he allegedly sent her a text along the lines of 'I wasn't sure if that was a wink goodbye' when he left. Flirty comments were then made after a third statement and began his barrage of messages. The witness would often ignore his remarks or divert the conversation back to the investigation. Despite her best efforts, the cop went on to say he would want to use contraception because he does not want any more children 'running around'. Once, he asked her if he had overstepped the mark and told her they 'could be wicked together'. Prosecutor Zarah Dickinson said the messages were 'persistent' and 'on occasions when she did not respond, because her elderly client passed away for example, Peall attempts to re-engage her in flirtatious chat'. She said: '(She) thought that if she did not respond to his messages then he would get the message. He sends these messages when he is both on duty and off duty. '(The complainant) was in no doubt from the conversation and previous messages exchanged that he wanted to come over to have sex with her … Peall messaged (her), 'you up for everything…?' then clarifying, 'How far you're happy to go…' and 'I'm not coming over for tea am I…haha. '(The complainant) felt unable to tell Peall to stop because of her own past relationships.' He was found not guilty of abuse of position for a sexual purpose - a charge which he had denied - at the crown courts in August. After the court hearing, Kent Police said: 'The charge related to an allegation he had pursued an inappropriate relationship with a witness during the course of a burglary investigation in Canterbury between October and December 2019, investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). 'PC Peall has been suspended from duty since the allegations were first reported and disciplinary proceedings will now continue following the outcome of the criminal case.' The IOPC have since found that the woman responded to some of PC Peall's text messages but she frequently ignored his messages or diverted the conversation back to the investigation. In a statement to the IOPC she described how, as a witness who tried to assist a police investigation, she additionally had to deal with unwanted advances from PC Peall. He was dismissed without notice and will also be placed on the policing barred list. IOPC Director Emily Barry said: 'I would like to praise the courage of the woman who supported our investigation into PC Peall's behaviour. 'She wanted him to focus on the police investigation into the burglary rather than trying to form an inappropriate relationship with her. 'Our investigation found he knew he was behaving inappropriately, as there were times when he asked if she was getting his messages and if he had overstepped the line. 'There is a power imbalance between police officers acting in the course of their duties and members of the public they come into contact with through their work. 'The guidance for officers shows the responsibility lies with them to maintain a professional boundary. Officers who abuse their position for a sexual purpose have absolutely no place in policing and it's behaviour like his that damages the public's trust and confidence in police officers.'
BBC News
09-07-2025
- BBC News
Woman charged with 93-year-old Stockport great gran's murder
A woman has been charged with murdering a 93-year-old great Zussman was found dead at a house on Altrincham Road in Gatley, Stockport, on 16 April, police Ali, 39, of no fixed address, is due to appear at Manchester Crown Court on Zussman's family previously described her as a "much loved and adored" mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and a "devoted wife" to her late husband Jack. Greater Manchester Police said it had referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct because its officers had previous contact with Mrs Zussman. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Sun
08-07-2025
- The Sun
Officer who kicked man in the head during Manchester airport brawl says he acted ‘professionally'
THE police officer filmed kicking a man in the head during an airport brawl has told a court he acted 'professionally'. Firearms cop Zachary Marsden has admitted kicking Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, while he was on the ground, last July. 3 3 PC Marsden told a jury he was trying to arrest Amaaz for headbutting another man in a cafe at Manchester Airport. Marsden said he was aware of the "crowd dynamic' in the pay station area and wanted to remove Amaaz from the area in case of an adverse crowd reaction. He said: 'Based on my experience as a police off icer, affecting an arrest in a crowd can create its own crowd dynamic risk. "It would be better to remove him from the crowd. 'I did not want to operate within the crowd which could give them the opportunity to escalate the situation." The brawl, which also involved Amaaz's brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, and two other officers was filmed and went viral on the internet. Both brothers, from Rochdale, deny assault charges and claim they acted in self defence. Their lawyer Imran Khan KC told Liverpool crown court Amaaz saw PC Marsden aim his Taser at his brother and may have believed it was a gun. The trial continues. Moment man 'headbutted dad at Manchester airport before brawling with cops' 3
SBS Australia
07-07-2025
- SBS Australia
Kumanjayi Walker's death was avoidable; Rolfe had tendency to use unnecessary force, says coroner
Warning: this article contains distressing and violent content and the photo of an Aboriginal person who has died. Among the backdrop of the dusty red dirt of the Central desert region, Warlpiri and Luritja families from Yuendumu and nearby Papunya, line the seats of the makeshift courthouse. The sense of grief is still thick in the air, six years on from the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker at house 511, just streets away. Coroner Elisabeth Armitage travelled to the Yuendumu community, around 300 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs, to deliver the long awaited findings of the coronial inquest into his death. Kumanjayi Walker was killed after being shot three times at close range by then NT police constable Zachary Rolfe. It happened during an attempted arrest in circumstances where all medical services had been withdrawn from the Yuendumu community. Following a six-week trial in 2022, an NT Supreme Court jury found Mr Rolfe acted in self-defence and in line with his police training, acquitting him of all charges. But the coroner found Kumanjayi's death was avoidable and delivered a scathing assessment of Zachary Rolfe's conduct both before and on the night of the shooting. The coroner is not able to make any findings that suggest Mr Rolfe or any other person is guilty of a criminal offence or that undermine the jury verdict from Mr Rolfe's trial. Ms Armitage said she was satisfied that on at least five occasions prior to Kumanjayi's death Mr Rolfe used unnecessary force and there were other occasions where force was avoidable. "There were instances where Mr Rolfe used force without proper regard for the risk of injury to persons, all of whom were Aboriginal boys or men, and significant injuries were caused to suspects because of his use of force," she said. Credit: Emma Kellaway, NITV Tendency to rush in Ms Armitage said she shared the view expressed by experienced senior police officers who said that this was a case of 'officer induced jeopardy', an expression that describes situations where officers 'needlessly put themselves in danger'; making themselves and others vulnerable and creating a situation that justifies the use of deadly force. "Mr Rolfe had a tendency to rush into situations to get his man without regard for his and others' safety, and in disregard of his training," she said. "He had a tendency to seek out situations in which force would be necessary, because he found combat situations exhilarating, and had an interest in adrenaline-style policing." The coroner found, rather than follow the arrest plan prepared by Sergeant Julie Frost, the officer in charge at Yuendumu, Mr Rolfe, who was a member of the Immediate Response Team (IRT), deliberately ignored it. Mr Rolfe thought he knew better than Sergeant Frost and that his superiority would be demonstrated when he led the IRT to "grab up Kumanjayi" on the night of November 9, rather than wait until the next day, as the arrest plan had said, the coroner reported. And Mr Rolfe ignored his training on minimising risk, when he entered house 511 and attempted to identify Kumanjayi, the coroner found, saying he had used one hand to hold his phone close to Kumanjayi's head, leaving part of his body exposed. "Mr Rolfe told Kumanjayi to place his hands behind his back," the report says. "Kumanjayi reacted immediately and began to struggle; he took a small pair of scissors from his pocket and moved in a downwards stabbing motion towards Mr Rolfe. "It appears that Mr Rolfe blocked the strike with his left arm, and the blow landed on his left shoulder, which caused a minor penetrating injury of the collarbone area." In response to Kumanjayi's struggle, Constable Eberl said 'Stop it, mate,' and struck him on the side of the face. "Mr Rolfe stepped back, removed his Glock 40 Calibre pistol from his holster and, without warning, fired one round into Kumanjayi's back," the report says, adding it was lucky Constable Eberl was not also shot. After the first shot, both Kumanjayi and Constable Eberl fell to the ground, with the police officer on top of Kumanjayi and holding him down. "Mr Rolfe then moved forward and fired two more rounds into the side of Kumanjayi's torso, which entered his chest at close range, while Kumanjayi lay beneath Constable Eberl. "Kumanjayi continued to struggle for a brief period, and was then handcuffed before the scissors were removed from his right hand ... "At no time did Mr Rolfe issue a standard warning prior to discharging his Glock pistol. "Two of the three gun shots passed through major organs and a little over an hour later, Kumanjayi passed away from his wounds." Ms Armitage reports that in the months before Kumanjayi's death, Mr Rolfe had filmed his own official body-worn video of forceful arrests and replayed it to colleagues and sent it to family and friends. "He did so to boast about his dynamic arrests and to engage in banter about his superior physicality and tactical skill," she said. By the middle of 2019, NT Police was on notice that Mr Rolfe needed closer supervision, as multiple complaints had been made on behalf of Aboriginal arrest targets that he had used excessive force, sometimes causing head injuries, and these complaints were (or ought to have been) under investigation. "It should have been obvious that action was required to minimise the potential risk to the public posed by what appeared to be (at best) Mr Rolfe's 'overexuberance', his tendency to rush in and his reluctance to follow rules," Ms Armitage reports. "In the absence of appropriate oversight, Mr Rolfe's tactics were tacitly (and sometimes expressly) approved. "Further, two sergeants who were supposed to be mentoring and supervising him joined in his use of racist language and praised Mr Rolfe's superiority over 'bush cops' or other officers they derided. "That too contributed to Mr Rolfe's sense of superiority and their behaviour provides important context for understanding why Mr Rolfe ignored Sgt Frost and substituted his own ill-conceived and hasty approach for Kumanjayi's arrest." The coroner made 32 recommendations, including that NT Police strengthen their anti-racism strategy and make it public. "The NT police force must take steps through its training, supervision, culture and leadership to ensure racist attitudes do not develop, and if they do, they are identified and corrected and are not tolerated or condoned," she said. "Concerning racism, there was direct evidence of clearly racist comments made by Mr Rolfe and between Mr Rolfe and his superiors in the lead up to Kumanjayi's death, ... text messages that ... contained extremely racist names and references to Aboriginal people." Ms Armitage paid her condolences to Kumanjayi's family and community and said he was loved and missed. "Kumanjayi's family members accept his frailties and vulnerabilities, they urge me to remember him for his humanity and to acknowledge the whole person they have lost," she said. In her testimony Kumanjayi's kinship mother, Leanne Oldfield, told the inquiry that she goes to Yuendumu to visit and clean the grave, put new flowers in. "Sometimes when I go for one night, I sleep at memory house," she said. "Then in the morning I go visit to graveyard, clean all the grasses, clean the yard. "I take Kumanjayi's dog, Red, with me when I go. "Having Red gives me a little bit of happy. "But sometimes, I get lonely. "Kumanjayi was my only son."
