A woman's policing career hangs in the balance after a disciplinary panel found she urinated in a clothes shop fitting room while drunk off-duty. PC Amelia Shearer wept as the independent panel gave a gross misconduct judgment.
It followed the incident in an Urban Outfitters store last September which the Cleveland Police probationer had strenuously denied the allegations. An inspector within the force said, from his experience, she was "an excellent officer".
The three-day hearing was told how, in less than four hours, she had a bottomless brunch at a bar, downing half a bottle of prosecco and three cocktails. She then had a Jack Daniels and coke at another venue before going to the shop in York.
A member of staff gave evidence to say PC Shearer asked if the store had toilets, was told “no”, but immediately went into a cubicle without any clothes to try on. The employee radioed for his manager and when the officer came out, he and his boss saw a pool of what smelled like urine on the floor.
The retailer paid £492 to have the cubicle professionally cleaned and the store’s nine fitting rooms had to be closed afterwards. The Middlesbrough-based officer, who studied a masters in criminal investigations before achieving her childhood dream of joining the force, denied urinating.
She did acknowledge she and her friend were “loud and giggly” and said she used the changing rooms to adjust her bra. But it was an account she did not give her superior, Inspector Christian Duree, when she spoke to him the next day on the phone.
PC Shearer explained that she only gave him an “abridged version” of events, but the force accused her of lying to him and in subsequent interviews. The panel was adjourned and will consider later on Wednesday whether she should lose her job, following submissions on her behalf and from her force.
The panel’s chair, Ogheneruona Iguyovwe said the allegations of discreditable conduct and breaches of honesty and integrity against the officer were proven. “Police officers are expected to maintain high standards of behaviour," she said.
“They have to ask themselves if their actions might result in a member of the public losing confidence in the policing profession. Officers are required to act with integrity and honesty at all times.”
Olivia Checa-Dover, for the force, had told the panel the evidence against the officer was “overwhelmingly strong”, and the two members of staff who gave evidence were telling the truth. Joan Smith, for the defendant, said she had consistently denied urinating.
Giving evidence about the events, Inspector Duree praised her performance as a probationer. He told the hearing: “From my experience as a police officer she has been absolutely spot-on, an excellent officer.”
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