Lancashire PC who sent racist and sexual messages to officers sacked

Lancashire Police's lawyer told the hearing that the fact PC Tierney "wears a uniform must be an embarrassment"

A PC who sent racist, abusive and sexual messages to female colleagues has been sacked for gross misconduct.

PC Christopher Tierney, 35, used Lancashire Police's internal directory to get contact information for nine officers before sending them messages on Whatsapp and Facebook.

He was dismissed without notice by a misconduct hearing panel in Ormskirk.

The panel said he had abused his power over junior colleagues and shown "deplorable and disgraceful" conduct.

The hearing was told PC Tierney, who was most recently a traffic officer, had sent racist, abusive and other inappropriate messages to one female officer in particular, with whom he had a "toxic" relationship.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the content included racial and religious stereotypes, which he shared using derogatory emojis and written phrases.

The panel was told he had also behaved inappropriately to eight other female officers by means of sexual or emotional behaviour or messages.

'Predatory'

It heard PC Tierney often contacted each woman on Facebook or WhatsApp, after using the force's internal telephone directory to get their contact details, and had described one officer as "hot" and another as the "hottest girl on the team".

He also kissed some of them and started or attempted to start relationships with others.

PC Tierney, who joined the police in 2007, told the hearing he was sorry for the messages, adding: "When I read them now, it feels like these were written by someone else."

"I cannot understand why I did that," he said.

"I also understand that Lancashire Police has to uphold public confidence."

Lancashire Police's lawyer Matthew Holdcroft told the hearing that the fact PC Tierney "wears a uniform must be an embarrassment".

"His behaviour can only be described as predatory [and] the public would be appalled if this officer was ever allowed to go on duty again," he added.

Panel chairman Karimulla Akbar Khan said PC Tierney's conduct "was a significant deviation from police standards" and he had "behaved in a discriminatory and predatory manner".

Giving the formal dismissal for gross misconduct, he added that the officer's behaviour had been "deplorable and disgraceful".

"There can be no place in the police for people like him," he added.

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