Special constable 'hid in wardrobe' while colleague in bed with woman

Luke Chafer and Joshua Hollis were on a policing course at the University of Derby

A special constable hid in a wardrobe while his colleague was in bed with a woman, a police misconduct hearing has been told.

The details emerged at a hearing for Luke Chafer and Joshua Hollis, who are also alleged to have posted offensive comments on a private Instagram group.

The pair were on the University of Derby's policing course when the comments were uncovered in April 2020.

The panel said the men would have been dismissed had they not resigned.

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Chafer and Hollis declined to attend the Derbyshire Police hearing, which examined allegations the pair "participated in inappropriate communications and conduct of a sexual nature", and failed to challenge and report messages sent by others in the group.

A stranger from New Zealand who was tagged into the private group reported the comments - which the panel heard included "references to rape and acts of forced sex" and sexist comments derogatory to women - to the women named in the messages.

An official complaint was made by one woman to the university.

Henry Gordon, chairman of the misconduct hearing, said the comments were "egregiously offensive, sexually graphic and demeaning and derogatory towards named women", adding they had "the capacity to seriously damage the reputation" of the police force.

'Exposed, vulnerable and embarrassed'

The panel also heard evidence from a woman referred to as Female A about a sexual encounter with Hollis after going to his house in October 2019.

She said after she went into his room, and they were intimately involved, Chafer emerged from a wardrobe.

After Chafer left, she said they were interrupted by another housemate who had also hidden in the room. He and Hollis were said to have laughed as he left the room.

The panel said the incident left Female A "unclothed, exposed, vulnerable and embarrassed", and after seeing the messages from the Instagram group months later she felt the incident "was more malicious than she first thought".

Mr Gordon said Hollis gave "a false account" when interviewed, where he said he believed he was alone in the room, and said Chafer's claim he left when he realised his housemate was not alone in the room was also not credible.

Hollis was also found to have committed gross misconduct after being convicted of drink-driving in December 2020, and having police-issued incapacitant spray at his home.

Finding on the balance of probabilities each of the allegations amounted to gross misconduct, Mr Gordon said the harm caused by the men's actions "is considerable", with some women named in the messages needing counselling and breaks from studies.

He said both men should be placed on the police barred list preventing them from serving as officers.

In a statement, the University of Derby confirmed the pair were suspended during the investigation and no longer studied at the institution. It said affected students had been offered "a range of support measures".

"There is no place for behaviour such as this at the university," a spokesperson added.