Police officer could be hauled in front of panel for betraying friend

A police officer could face misconduct proceedings after betraying a female colleague who had made a sexual harassment complaint about a more senior male officer. Last month South Wales Police sacked the married policeman (anonymised as Officer Z) after a misconduct panel found he had sexually harassed the complainant (PC A), tormenting her to the point she felt scared to go to work. The force has now confirmed it is looking into potential misconduct from another officer on the same team (PC SW). When PC SW was cross-examined during the recent hearing she made extraordinary admissions about her own behaviour. PC SW considered herself a close friend of both the policeman and his victim. When she first learned there had been a complaint she tried to get information about it from PC A who was reluctant to give details but did say the policeman had made a "vile comment" to her. PC SW proceeded to leak this information to Officer Z who at that point had not even been interviewed about the complaint. During the hearing it was put to PC SW that this was a serious abuse of trust. She admitted to the panel she had "overstepped" as she was "tied up in the moment". South Wales Police said this "was not known until it was given as evidence" at the misconduct hearing. Now that the case has concluded the force is "reviewing whether there has been any misconduct" from PC SW. The reason we cannot use these officers' real names is that the force's assistant chief constable Jenny Gilmer has insisted on anonymity for Officer Z. It is the third time in recent months that she has done so for a policeman after sexual misconduct. Just like in the other cases she said she anonymised Officer Z to protect mental health. Officer Z was the victim's supervisor. He told her he wanted to "f***" her and cheat on his wife with her. At other times he harassed her with questions about why she was "hiding" from him, where she had been, and whom she had been with. He bombarded her with questions about her relationships with male colleagues and got angry when she did not answer. In one first aid training session, while using a dummy to demonstrate packing a wound, he used two fingers to make an obscene gesture and asked the woman: "Is this turning you on?" On another occasion he demanded to speak with her alone then refused to let her leave the room. By the time she reported him to bosses she was "unable to sleep or eat properly" due to his abuse of power, the panel heard. PC SW described the man as a "professional and caring" officer who had taken the victim "under his wing". In the weeks following the complaint PC SW met the victim for coffee. As she later admitted in the hearing she was trying to find out what was going on but PC A would only say she had made a complaint about Officer Z following a "vile comment" – which PC SW then told the policeman. During the hearing PC SW was on the end of a fiery cross-examination from barrister Mark Ley-Morgan who was presenting the case against Officer Z. Mr Ley-Morgan pointed out it was "completely right" that PC A did not want to share details of the case given the ongoing investigation. In response PC SW simply said: "Mm-hmm." PC SW then admitted meeting the policeman before he was interviewed about the complaint. Initially she claimed she had only done so once but after Mr Ley-Morgan reminded her of her initial statement she accepted there were two meetings. She also admitted telling the policeman she did not believe the allegation against him. The barrister pressed her: "How could you possibly know that if you didn't know what the allegation was?" PC SW replied: "I didn't believe he would make vile comments towards her. I know him and he doesn't make vile comments." Mr Ley-Morgan went on: "How long had you been a police officer? Three years. So long enough to know it's a very bad idea for a potential witness, which you clearly were, to be speaking to the person accused about the matter that was under investigation." She responded: "Yeah, I understand that... I was concerned about his mental health. Yes, I overstepped. I was tied up in the moment. I was concerned for him but it was more because of the emotional side of him." The barrister continued: "There's nothing wrong with being a supportive friend but that is a very different state of affairs to passing information to him during the investigation... Right from the outset you were firmly in his camp and you took his side." PC SW said: "Well I met up with her as well and I tried to reach out to her on multiple occasions. I have every right to believe who I want even if the facts haven't been presented." Mr Ley-Morgan interrupted: "You reached out to her and she very properly declined to tell you any information. And a short time later you're over with Officer Z telling him everything you know." In the rest of her evidence PC SW did not once criticise the conduct of Officer Z – even when she was asked about the first aid dummy incident in which he himself admitted he committed misconduct. You can read more about the case – and the controversy over Ms Gilmer repeatedly protecting the anonymity of disgraced sex pests – here . If you would like to tell us about an issue that should be investigated you can contact our investigations editor at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk.