OFFICER SENT FOOTAGE OF DEAD MAN TO HIS GIRLFRIEND

APOLICE officer showed bodycam footage of a dead body and pictures of a baby whose mother had been arrested to his partner, a misconduct hearing was told.

PC 3689 Matthew Roberts, of North Wales Police, shared the images with a PCSO who he was in a relationship with while he was off-duty.

PC Roberts had resigned from the force by the time the hearing was held on April 3 at North Wales Police HQ in Colwyn Bay.

The hearing, held under the provisions of the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 (“the Regulations”), heard allegations the former officer “on a number of occasions” between January and November 2022, showed his colleague and partner footage that had been taken from his body-worn video recorded in the course of his duties.

That included the forced removal of a female from a property and of her spitting at Roberts, the discovery of a deceased man in a bedroom, the arrest of a drunk and abusive male at a bus stop, and the arrest of a young male complaining Roberts had aggravated or caused him a broken wrist.

Also, the hearing was told on a date in approximately October/November 2022, Roberts had taken a baby to hospital, having arrested its mother. He sent pictures of the baby to his now expartner via WhatsApp, setting the images to be “viewed once” and telling her not to tell anyone.

The officer accepted he “abused his position, thereby showing a lack of integrity in breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity”. He also accepted his behaviour collectively amounted to gross misconduct.

A panel found the former officer’s acts “had been deliberate and planned” and done “for his own personal advantage (albeit not financial)”.

It also found he had “persisted in his misconduct after he had (or should have) realised it was improper” and there were “multiple victims, some of who were vulnerable”.

In its outcome, the panel concluded the former officer “would have been dismissed if he had not ceased to be a member of the police force” and that he will be included on the Police Barred List.