An “exemplary” student officer has been sacked for hitting a police colleague in the face – and inappropriately grabbing another during a boozy staff night out. Olivia Wilkinson, who joined Merseyside Police aged 19, was on a night out with her student colleagues in Liverpool city centre on April 13th 2024 and consumed “quite a lot of strong alcoholic drinks”.
But a misconduct hearing heard during the night out she hit a colleague in the face and grabbed another by his genitals. Wilkinson accepted she had hit one of her colleagues yet denied inappropriately touching the other – but accepted her actions breached the regulations relating to the Standards of Professional Behaviour.
A report said the student police constable felt “disappointment, shame and embarrassment” about how she behaved and the panel ruled her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, external and she was dismissed without notice.
Wilkinson said she had been “particularly anxious” about going out and had not eaten anything before she had started drinking.
This meant her memory of the night was “patchy and vague” and she said she was not in a position to challenge witness statements, the tribunal heard.
During the night out the group went to Wall of Fame bar in the city centre and this is where Wilkinson became upset.
She appeared to believe there may have been flirting between two of her colleagues which irritated her.
A colleague said: “This appeared to annoy her and she had been annoyed by this before in class and it came up in conversation.
“She suddenly grabbed [redacted] by his crotch area, she fully had grip of [redacted] and appeared to squeeze. He swatted her hand off and then pushed her back.”
Wilkinson accepted she hit her colleague after speaking to police trainers and others present on the night out but stressed she could not recall it.
She claimed she had “no recollection of touching or grabbing [redacted] around his genitals or reaching out towards him in that area”.
The student officer acknowledged it was a possibility she might have grabbed the colleague, but did not want to admit to something which may not have occurred.
However, both allegations were found to be proven following a two-day hearing chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Jennifer Wilson. There was no evidence found of any sexual motive behind the assault.
The panel heard her colleague had not made the complaint, and the only witness to the incident had indicated he wanted to retract his statement about the second allegation.
In mitigation, the panel considered her age, remorse and how the misconduct was brief in nature. They also took account of her good character, how she was an “exemplary student officer and a role model”.
The report said: “The panel were impressed by the character evidence which showed the officer as an impressive individual from an early age. The panel were in no doubt that PC Wilkinson was well regarded by her peers.”
Wilkinson was dismissed without notice following the hearing and has been added to the College of Policing barred list.
Detective Chief Superintendent Sabi Kaur, Head of the force’s Professional Standards Department, said: “The actions of this officer were completely unacceptable and risked seriously undermining public confidence in policing.
“I hope that the seriousness with which the Force has handled the investigation into this behaviour demonstrates very clearly the standards we uphold at Merseyside Police.
“The public quite rightly expect that officers, even when off duty, should adhere to professional behaviour. Fellow officers too should be treated with respect and Constable Wilkinson’s actions showed a complete disregard for her colleagues.
“I am pleased to say the overwhelming majority of our officers, whether on or off duty, hold themselves to the highest standards of behaviour and are fully committed to keeping our communities safe.
“Where officers and staff don’t, we are committed to finding them and removing them from the force.
“The actions of Constable Wilkinson clearly fell far below the standards expected and it is right that she no longer works for Merseyside Police.
“Our officers and staff who do an exemplary job day in, day out and we will not allow the actions of people like former Constable Wilkinson to damage the good name they have built up.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Kaur added: “We want to hear about officers and staff who do not uphold the values we demand and introduced Call It Out to run alongside the Crimestoppers Internal Integrity Line, an internal campaign to encourage colleagues to call out behaviour that does not align with our principles.
“It empowers officers and staff to challenge behaviour in the workplace, as well as providing an avenue to confidentially report behaviour into our Professional Standards Department.”