Avon and Somerset panel heard officer failed to arrest stalker

PC Tamsin Devlin admits misconduct, but denies gross misconduct

A police officer has been accused of gross misconduct after exposing a domestic abuse victim to the risk of injury and distress.

PC Tamsin Devlin, from Avon and Somerset Police, did not arrest the man after he broke into his ex's house.

At the first day of the misconduct hearing on Monday the officer admitted she should have arrested the man.

Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the force, said PC Devlin's actions went against College of Policing guidelines.

The man had refused to accept the relationship was over and hid in a treehouse in his former partner's garden before entering her house through a bedroom window.

He burst into the bathroom, where the woman had locked herself in, before pushing her into the bathtub and seizing the family dog by the neck.

The man claimed the dog was his and tried to leave with it and the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, called 999.

PC Devlin attended the property with a junior colleague and did not place the man under arrest, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

He told her he had no money, nowhere to go and would sleep on a nearby bench - which should make an arrest "absolutely imperative," according to the barrister.

The man was arrested the following morning after returning to the woman's house.

'Clear case of stalking'

The panel heard the victim, Ms A, explained to the two officers that the man had harassed her since their separation.

Mr Ley-Morgan told the panel that the man should have been arrested after the first incident.

PC Devlin asked the victim, Ms A, if she wanted to make a complaint and a statement following the events of the previous night, before asking if she still wanted him to go.

She told the panel Ms A "seemed concerned" about the man, and she "didn't feel very distressed".

PC Devlin said her intention had been to remove the man to give officers time to speak to the victim and gather more evidence of harassment.

"The officer's behaviour when dealing with this incident was so bad that it amounts to gross misconduct," he said.

"The officer admits that she 'could have done better' and accepts that 'a more appropriate course of action would have been to arrest' Mr B.

"By not arresting Mr B, the officer clearly exposed Ms A and her children to the risk of injury and more distress."

Det Insp Daniel Rowan told the hearing that having reviewed the officers' body-worn camera footage, the man should have been arrested.

"The balance is very strong in this case of being a clear case of stalking," he said.

"The perpetrator left the officer with no option but to arrest."

The panel heard closing arguments on Tuesday before retiring to deliberate.