An Avon & Somerset Police officer who “bullied and harassed” a vulnerable, lone female over a two-hour train journey has been barred from policing. PC Steven Marshall committed gross misconduct and would have been dismissed had he not already resigned from the force, a panel ruled on Tuesday (June 13) after a two-day misconduct hearing.
He also sat in first class without a valid ticket and showed his warrant card when challenged by the GWR train manager in a bid to stay there. PC Marshall, who was a student officer based in Bridgwater and resigned in February 2022, refused to move from the seat for the whole trip from London Paddington to Taunton while he subjected a woman sat alone across the aisle to “degrading and humiliating” mockery on an overcrowded train packed with football and rugby fans.
The hearing was told the woman, Ms A, feared for her safety as other passengers laughed at his jokes at her expense and that she was still shaking the next day. She told the panel that she saw a sign for British Transport Police (BTP) during the journey on November 6, 2021, but didn’t feel she could call them because she believed PC Marshall, who was off-duty and travelling with a friend, was one of their officers, so she sat “trying to be invisible” as he “generated a feeling of resentment” towards her.
Read more: Drunken cop 'subjected lone female train passenger to two hours of mockery', misconduct panel told
Delivering the panel’s decision, Legally Qualified Chair (LQC) Peter Cadman said: “It involved bullying and it involved harassment and was aimed at a vulnerable person.” He said the officer caused harm to Ms A, to the train manager, to public confidence in policing and to members of the public who were “his audience in the carriage when he had already identified himself as a police officer”.
Mr Cadman said “The officer’s behaviour was rude, loud and generally offensive. He used his warrant card for the personal benefit of him and his friend.”
PC Marshall, who did not attend the hearing at constabulary headquarters in Portishead and was not represented, admitted drinking six pints during that day but denied being drunk, the hearing was told. However, the panel found that an allegation that he was under the influence of alcohol was proven, along with his “inappropriate” comments on the train.
Barrister Joanne Kane, representing the force, said the officer’s actions had a “chilling effect” on Ms A and on public confidence in policing. After the hearing, head of the professional standards department Supt Mark Edgington said: “This former officer was rude and disrespectful to both the train manager and his fellow passenger during this prolonged incident.
“Despite being off-duty at the time, he’s still expected to show the behaviours and values expected of him as a serving member of our police service, which he woefully failed to do on that evening. The misuse of his warrant card is a serious matter and that, along with his unpleasant and intimidating behaviour, means he’s wholly unsuitable to hold a role in policing or any other law enforcement agency.”
The panel ruled that PC Marshall breached the standards of professional behaviour for police officers relating to discreditable conduct and to authority, respect and courtesy, amounting to gross misconduct. An allegation that he breached the standards in terms of equality and diversity were not proved as the panel decided he did not discriminate against Ms A because of her sex.
A further allegation of breaching the standards relating to honesty and integrity were also not proved because the panel did not accept that PC Marshall had claimed, falsely, to be a BTP officer, although members did conclude he used his Avon & Somerset Police warrant card in an attempt to stay in first class, which the officer had denied. PC Marshall also denied being drunk, derogatory or offensive, causing distress, identifying himself as a BTP officer, saying he was entitled to the seat and directing his comments to Ms A.
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