Officer barred from policing after breaching bail

At the hearing, PC West was sacked without notice after breaching his bail conditions and lying about it to police

A police officer who breached his bail conditions by contacting a woman he was ordered to stay away from has been sacked without notice.

PC Thomas West was found to have committed gross misconduct following a two-day hearing at Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead, Somerset.

Following his arrest in March 2024, he was ordered not to contact a woman, known as Miss A, due to criminal allegations against him. Two months later, he walked her to a taxi rank when he saw her apparently drunk and alone in the street.

The panel chairman said his actions included a deliberate act to deceive another officer. The criminal investigation had concluded with no further action against him.

PC West was also been barred from policing and other law enforcement.

In the early hours of 6 May last year, while off-duty, PC West saw Miss A in Weston-super-Mare and had told the misconduct hearing he decided to put her safety before his conditions of police bail.

But a woman assaulted Miss A, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in an unprovoked attack as they walked from St James Street to the High Street.

A man intervened as PC West tried to detain her, punching the officer six times in the head and causing cuts, a black eye and bruised cheek, the panel heard.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, PC West called 999 but gave Miss A a false name.

He said this was at her request because she did not want him to get into trouble for breaching his police bail. She left the scene before police arrived.

Solicitor Ben Tighe, representing PC West, told the hearing "there was no malign intent" behind the deceit.

"It wasn't his intention to pressure her to withdraw her allegations or discuss them," he said.

"Rather, what this officer did, stupidly, was misguided but well intentioned and designed to make sure this individual was okay.

"We are dealing with an instance of dishonesty which lasted for a matter of seconds."

He said the dishonesty was "very minor" and the constable should be given a final written warning.

However, panel chairman and former Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said a final written warning would be insufficient to maintain public confidence in the police, and only dismissal without notice would suffice.

"The public would understandably be outraged if they knew a police officer had breached bail conditions," he said.

He also said numerous character references showed the officer was held in high regard.

After the hearing, Det Supt Larisa Hunt, head of the force's police standards department, said the public rightly expected police officers to "uphold the highest of standards both on and off duty".

She added: "PC West has been suspended since last spring and will never serve in policing again as a result of today's outcome."