Hampshire police officer found guilty of inappropriate touching

PC Keith Hall is accused of touching one colleague's bottom and running his fingers down the back of another

A former police officer has been found guilty of gross misconduct for allegedly touching two female colleagues inappropriately.

PC Keith Hall, who worked for Hampshire Constabulary, was found to have the bottom of a colleague in March 2022.

In May 2022, a misconduct tribunal also heard how he ran his fingers down another colleague's back while on duty.

Assistant Chief Constable Lucy Hutson said such behaviour "will never be tolerated".

"Keith Hall's behaviour towards two of his colleagues was abhorrent [...] It is not OK to touch people without their consent," she said.

"Not only has he caused considerable distress to the two women he touched, but he has shown a total lack of understanding for the effect his behaviour has had on them."

Mr Hall denied both allegations and said he did not remember touching one colleague - referred to as Officer A - because of how much he had drunk, but if it had happened it was an accident.

He denied the second incident - against Officer B - happened at all.

'Predator'

The misconduct tribunal, sitting at Fareham Police Station, ruled he would have been fired if he had not already retired.

George Thomas, representing the police force, told the hearing that inappropriate touching was "unexpected, unwelcome and without consent" and showed a lack of respect for the female colleagues.

Officer A broke down in tears as she explained to the hearing why she made a complaint against Hall for the incident, which happened off-duty.

She said: "If something happened in the future and I hadn't said anything, because of all the media attention on the Met, I couldn't have forgiven myself if something had happened."

The panel was told that a friend found Officer A in a "distressed" state following the incident.

Officer A told the tribunal that Hall was "very, very drunk" when the incident happened and she later sent a WhatsApp message to Officer B describing Mr Hall as a "predator".

In the second incident, Mr Thomas said that Officer B was working a day shift when Mr Hall "ran two fingers down her spine from her neck to the bottom of her back".

"It's the type of behaviour police are expected to prevent and not participate in themselves," he added.

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