Officer failed to investigate assaults, hearing told

Rose Wilson was “patronising, rude or impolite to members of the public", a misconduct hearing was told

A police officer allegedly failed to investigate two assaults and made “dishonest or misleading accounts”, a misconduct hearing was told.

Avon and Somerset Police officer Rose Wilson failed to accurately record complaints, made inaccurate records, did not obtain written statements and failed to upload body-worn video, it was alleged.

She was also “patronising, rude or impolite to members of the public”, barrister Matt Holdcroft, representing the force, told the panel on 24 September.

Ms Wilson denies misconduct.

The two unrelated incidents took place at addresses in Horfield, Bristol, on 29 July and 26 September 2022.

The first assault involved a neighbourly dispute where a woman had allegedly shouted abuse, soaked her neighbours with a hosepipe and threatened them.

She punched one of them in the face, when he grabbed her wrist to stop her and twisted her arm behind her back, the hearing was told.

The man did not want to press charges but the woman made the counter-allegation of being assaulted by him.

Mr Holdcroft told the panel: “The officer interrupted [the woman] and spoke over her.

“She was dismissive. She upset her and then told her not to raise her voice."

Despite the woman showing PC Wilson her arm to indicate red marks from being grabbed, PC Wilson did not examine or take photos of it and she failed to ask if there were any other witnesses, Mr Holdcroft said.

The officer also failed to keep or upload her notes from the scene or undertake any door-to-door enquiries, he said.

Mr Holdcroft said: “The officer was plainly keen to leave and to draw a line under the matter.”

The woman who used the hosepipe later made a formal complaint of assault, but PC Wilson dismissed it as a “counter-allegation which was dealt with at the time”, it was said.

A week after the incident, her sergeant instructed her to upload her body-worn video as evidence, which she had still not done.

No record of complaint

The second incident followed a 999 call from a dad who said his child had been bullied that day and his wife had taken a mobile phone from another child who had been filming it.

The child’s father had arrived at their house to get the phone back and punched the dad of the bullied child several times in the face, leaving him bleeding, according to the incident log.

The victim told PC Wilson that he had been assaulted, but she told him the only offence that had been committed was taking the child’s phone.

Mr Holdcroft said: “The male had been clear that he wanted to make a complaint of assault and for that to be investigated and that he wanted the officer to return after she had spoken to the male that had assaulted him.

“The officer did not return to the male’s address.”

In an incident record, PC Wilson wrote: “No complaint was made by either parties in relation to the theft of the mobile phone and the minor assault to retrieve it.”

Three weeks later the assault victim phoned the police to ask when officers would take his statement because he wanted the attacker prosecuted.

The hearing continues.