Policeman could face dismissal over lack of action following domestic assault allegation

A POLICE officer who ignored a woman’s claims she was being beaten and held hostage in her home by a violent ex-partner could now lose his job.

Pc Aidan Weldon went to a home in Leicester where the tearful mum told him her ex-boyfriend – the father of their young son – had been holding her hostage in her bedroom for three days.

She said her ex-partner had attacked her, slapping her in the face and trying to bite her cheek and that she had moved house to hide from him – but he had found her two weeks earlier.

Pc Weldon spoke to the man, who said they had been living together in the house as a couple for five months.

He admitted they had argued about her texting another man, but denied any violence, a police misconduct panel heard this week.

Pc Weldon, who was with a trainee officer at the scene, then radioed his sergeant about whether he should let the man leave with the boy.

However, he failed to tell his sergeant about the accusations of violence. He also said he had “spoken to the lad in private” and that the youngster, who is autistic, wanted to go with his father.

It is alleged that was a lie and that Pc Weldon made further inaccurate statements to his superiors.

Bodycam footage showed during the disciplinary hearing at police headquarters in Enderby showed the woman shouting and screaming as the police allowed the man leave with the boy.

She was then threatened with arrest, the footage showed.

She told the police she did not want her ex-partner to take the boy back to his family home.

Pc Weldon said to her: “If you try to pull (the child) away from your partner, you can end up getting arrested for it”.

The woman screamed at other officers in the street, begging them to do further checks on her expartner’s home because her son would be in danger.

Pc Weldon was heard telling her: “You’re telling me you’re the best person for your son to stay with? You’re upsetting your son in the middle of everyone.”

Later he accused her of acting “irrationally” and was heard telling a colleague “She’s not a fit person for having a child,” before telling his sergeant that the woman went “nuts”.

The woman was still shouting at the officers as they drove away.

The matter was later recorded by Pc Weldon as a “non-crime incident”, the hearing was told.

The more serious allegations against Pc Weldon are that he lied to his sergeant, Peter Bown, in the days after the incident, which happened during the summer of 2020.

He is accused of omitting all the allegations of violence and incorrectly claiming he had spoken to the child in private, while also failing to mention the child’s autism.

Lawyer Caroline Sellars, presenting the case against Pc Weldon at the online hearing, alleged the officer had “failed to properly safeguard a child” and lied to his superiors. She said: “Where an officer is found to be dishonest this inevitably increases the severity – a breach so serious dismissal would be justified.”

She told the hearing Pc Weldon accepted he was guilty of misconduct by failing to act properly on the day and admitted failing to make proper checks before letting the man take the child.

However, he denied the gross misconduct accusation and that he lied to his superiors.

Ms Sellars said the woman’s claims of violence against her were ignored, adding: “Pc Weldon doesn’t explore those allegations further, which are clearly allegations of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour.”

The accusations against Pc Weldon

include failing to take a witness statement, failing to make a record of the alleged assault and failing to arrest the man.

Towards the end of the incident, the bodycam footage showed Pc Weldon on his radio telling his supervisor: “My gut is telling me it’s not as reported.

“She’s the one who’s being really difficult. I’ve spoken to the lad in private – he’s made it clear he’d rather go with dad”.

But Pc Weldon’s only words to the boy were “All right little man?” and “Go on, listen to your dad”, Ms Sellars said.

In the days after the incident, the woman complained to the police.

When a colleague spoke to Pc Weldon about the case and the allegations of the woman being held against her will, Pc Weldon allegedly said he had not heard such allegations from the woman.

Ms Sellars said this was “plainly not true”.

The case is expected to last three days.

The names of those involved have been withheld to preserve the anonymity of the child.