Bristol police officer sacked after dance floor punch

Jedd Perry was on a night out in Bristol with other police officers

A police officer who punched a man in a Bristol city centre pub has been sacked for gross misconduct.

Former PC Jedd Perry, of Avon and Somerset Police, was dismissed without notice at a hearing on Friday.

The incident, which involved Mr Perry striking a man twice in the face, happened on the dancefloor of the Green House on College Green in August 2021.

A misconduct panel ruled that the attack was unprovoked and his actions were unjustified.

Mr Perry has also been barred from becoming a police officer anywhere else in the country.

'Highly concerning'

Head of professional standards Supt Jane Wigmore said Mr Perry's actions were "highly concerning" and indicated "behaviours and attitudes which are absolutely not in keeping with the high standards expected of an officer".

Mr Perry, who was then 21, said he believed his girlfriend, also a PC, was being "sexually assaulted" after he saw a man lay his hand on her lower back.

There was then an exchange of blows in which she was accidentally hit, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. 

After the altercation, Mr Perry then went outside, where the man followed him and retaliated by punching him.

Mr Perry received a cut to his eyebrow but the unnamed man, who did not make a formal complaint, was not hurt in the incident.

The officer, who admitted misconduct but denied gross misconduct, did not face criminal charges since the threshold for a charge of affray had not been met. A lesser alternative charge of battery could not be brought.

A hearing in Portishead heard Mr Perry had "no reasonable basis for a belief that PC Daly was being sexually assaulted"

The incident was referred to professional standards by a supervisor, and an investigation was carried out.

A four-day hearing in November found the Bristol-based student officer had "no reasonable basis for a belief that PC Daly was being sexually assaulted".

Representing the police, barrister George Thomas, said that Mr Perry's actions undermined "public confidence in the police".

He added: "It's the role of police to prevent incidents like this and protect the public, not to be the perpetrators of this violence."

'Youthful stupidity'

Mr Perry's barrister, Sarah Barlow, said there was a of "degree in youthful stupidity" and he should receive a final written warning, not dismissal.

She said: "He has shown a level of maturity since the incident" and "would act very differently in future".

However, Legally Qualified Chair Adrian Phillips said that although the behaviour of the man Mr Perry punched was disrespectful, the attack was unprovoked and "no lesser sanction than dismissal would be sufficient".

Mr Perry was cleared of a second count of gross misconduct relating to making a discriminatory comment to a female colleague of Romanian heritage, 12 days before the Green House incident.

The panel accepted it was an "ill-judged attempt at humour" rather than being intentionally malicious or racist.