Police officer sacked for failing to arrest stalker

The officer was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour

A police officer who failed to arrest a stalker after he broke into his ex’s house has been sacked without notice.

PC Tamsin Devlin went against national guidance and lied to colleagues about the incident, insisting no crime had been committed, an Avon and Somerset Constabulary misconduct panel ruled.

The man had climbed through the bedroom window of the mother-of-two's home after refusing to accept their relationship was over.

Chair of the panel Peter Cadman said: "The only proportionate outcome here is dismissal."

Constabulary barrister, Mark Ley-Morgan, told the hearing that PC Devlin's actions were "so bad" that they amounted to gross misconduct and exposed Ms A and her children to the "risk of injury and more distress".

'Alarm bells'

The Taunton-based officer and a junior colleague attended a domestic abuse incident following a 999 call from the woman, Ms A, at around 22:50 GMT in February 2023.

The mother-of-two's former partner, Mr B, was found hiding in a treehouse in the garden when police arrived, the panel heard.

He then slipped past the constables to get back into the house, burst into a bathroom where the woman had locked herself in and pushed her into the bathtub, before grabbing the family dog by the neck and trying to leave with it.

Despite police guidance that an arrest should be made in a domestic abuse incident, PC Devlin did not apprehend him.

She also told her young female colleague that no offences had been committed and deliberately repeated this to the control room despite knowing it was false - an allegation the officer denied but the panel upheld on Tuesday.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, PC Devlin also ignored "alarm bells" that Mr B had no money, nowhere to go and would sleep on a nearby bench.

The man returned to the address at 07:15 GMT the following day and was arrested by another police officer.

He subsequently entered a guilty plea and was convicted for stalking, assault and criminal damage.

A two-day hearing was held at Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead

Concluding the two day hearing in Portishead, Mr Cadman said: "This was a single episode. We have noted the officer's character references, that there were no previous matters and her good behaviour since.

"However, the panel did find that a final written warning would not be proportionate.

"The matter of dishonesty has been established. The only proportionate outcome here is dismissal."

PC Devlin, who joined the police in 2017, admitted misconduct and accepted she should have arrested the man, but denied doing anything wrong and insisted she had not been dishonest.

'Vulnerable victim'

In response to the incident, Supt Mark Edgington, head of the force's professional standards department, said: “This was a clear and concerning offence of stalking and the interaction between PC Devlin, the perpetrator and the victim in this case was captured on body worn video.

“This evidence showed PC Devlin should have taken positive action to arrest the perpetrator in order to protect the victim and prevent any further harm or distress being caused.

“The failure to do so was unacceptable and a blatant disregard of professional duties which put a vulnerable victim at risk."