Herts Police officer sacked without notice after asking about colleagues’ sex lives
A Hertfordshire Police officer has been sacked without notice after he made comments about his colleagues’ sex lives.
Warning: Some sexual detail and strong language. Some graphic detail has been edited out of this report.
PC Tom Hamer asked junior female colleagues in his team, who are gay, questions about their sex lives that were deemed to be “inappropriate, unacceptable and discriminatory” by Andy Prophet, chief constable at Hertfordshire police.
According to Chief Constable Prophet, Hamer, who was 24 at the time of the incidents, made the comments despite “having been told on several prior occasions to desist from such behaviour”.
At a misconduct hearing on Wednesday, February 26, Chief Constable Prophet concluded that Hamer’s words on four separate occasions between December 2023 and February 2024 amounted to gross misconduct and warranted dismissal from the force without notice.
On one occasion, Hamer asked a junior female colleague a detailed question about oral sex.
On a separate occasion, he asked a junior female colleague a detailed question about lesbian sex.
Hamer also asked a junior male colleague “[is] the child feeling better now he has eaten”. Hamer also described a junior female colleague as a “manwoman”.
He accepted he had made the comments but argued that some had not breached police standards for equality and diversity.
Mr Prophet, however, found that the comment describing a junior male colleague as a “child” would not have been made if the target “had not been a young [person] in service and junior officer to him”.
The chief constable found the term “manwoman” was “inherently discriminatory [and] highly inappropriate” and would not have been used against Hamer’s colleague “had she not been a gay woman”.
Mr Prophet concluded: “It is, in my view, entirely unacceptable for police officers to behave in a discriminatory manner and use language that makes others feel uncomfortable. Doing so undermines public trust and confidence in policing, as well as our reputation.
“The public could not have confidence in PC Hamer, nor would they have confidence in the police service, if it did not treat these matters with the utmost seriousness.”
He found that Hamer had breached standards of professional behaviour relating to respect and courtesy, equality and diversity, and discreditable conduct.
You can view the full uncensored report from the hearing on the Herts Police website.