Former detective guilty of gross misconduct
A former Humberside Police officer found guilty of gross misconduct would have been sacked if he had not already resigned, an independent panel has said.
The panel, led by a legally qualified chair, found that former Detective Constable Philip Paton breached standards of professional behaviour on 13 occasions.
Paton resigned in February, a month before the two-day hearing, which he did not attend and was not represented at.
At the conclusion of the hearing on Tuesday, the panel found all allegations against Payton proven, and that collectively they amounted to gross misconduct. They concluded that had he not resigned he would have been dismissed without notice.
Payton will now be added onto the National College of Policing’s barred list, which prohibits him from working within policing.
The findings included Payton:
returning devices to suspects earlier than they should have been;
being dishonest with his supervisors;
failing to update complainants;
failing to submit files to the CPS;
failing to submit exhibits for forensic examination.
The failings spanned six investigations which all had vulnerable complainants, including two separate allegations of the rape and sexual assault of a child.
In a statement after the hearing, Superintendent Matt Baldwin said: “This was a concerning case where an officer repeatedly breached the standards of behaviour that we expect here at Humberside Police, putting investigations at risk.
“He is no longer serving the public as a police officer and I hope this offers reassurance to our communities that investigating crime and putting offenders before the courts is something that we take very seriously.
“I am pleased to share that all of the investigations that Payton failed to appropriately investigate were reallocated to other officers and subsequently convictions were secured in the majority of them.
“The case was also reviewed internally and learning was implemented to prevent any further instances of this nature.
“As part of our commitment to victims, supervisors across the force work very closely with their teams to ensure that investigations are of the highest standard and any concerns are flagged and addressed.”