The
former partner of a police officer who was sacked for divulging
information about tragic Mansfield teenager Amber Peat has been given
a final written warning for gross misconduct.
Pc Andrew Tideswell, who works out of Mansfield
Police Station, was given the last chance despite it being proved
that he breached professional standards by sending text messages that
included racist and homophobic language about vulnerable victims of
crime.
His partner, Pc Samantha Goodwin was fired in
October last year after she admitted divulging information through
text messages about the body of 13-year-old Amber Peat being found
before it was made public.
It was during a search of Pc Goodwin’s home that
Pc Tideswell’s phone was also seized.
Text message exchanges with Pc Goodwin, with whom
he was in a relationship with, were found on his and her phone with
personal comments relating to other incidents.
A misconduct hearing was held at Nottinghamshire
Police headquarters at Sherwood Lodge today, Thursday January 7,
where 15 misconduct allegations were put to him.
They included texts to Pc Goodwin in which he
referred to a domestic violence victim as a ‘nightmare woman’,
called one of his inspectors a ‘penis’, described a murder victim
as a ‘paedo’ and even made comments about a vulnerable historic
sex abuse victim.
Although he admitted sending the messages, Pc
Tideswell denied that they amounted to misconduct, claiming they were
his private thoughts with his partner and had were never intended for
the public.
But after more than six hours of deliberation, Pc Tideswell, a panel which included Assistant Chief Constable Simon Torr found that he had breached 10 of the 15 allegations put to him.
Solicitor Matthew Green, representing the force,
said: “They are not just relating to members of the public, but
more importantly victims and suspects of crime, some are classed as
vulnerable.”
Talking about the interview Pc Tideswell had with
police after his phone was seized, Mr Green said: “The general
feeling in the interview is not one of remorse and shows little
understanding of how harmful the comments are.
“It’s clear the comments are derogatory,
inappropriate, racist and homophobic. It demonstrates an enormous
lack of respect and courtesy and a terminal lack of awareness of
diversity and how to behave as a police officer.
“It’s not acceptable to make comments about victims of crime as a police officer.
“They damage the reputation of Nottinghamshire
Police and public confidence in the police.”
The hearing was told how 38-year-old Pc Tideswell,
who is from Mansfield Woodhouse, had been in a relationship with Pc
Goodwin for over two years, but he had ended the relationship last
year.
He had joined the force in 2001 and worked in
specialist roles in robbery and car crime units, and was a beat
manager in Hucknall.
During today’s hearing he questioned whether it
was lawful for the police to have taken his phone during the search
of Pc Goodwin’s home.
He also argued that because both he and Pc Goodwin
were serving police officers and on conflicting shift patterns, they
rarely saw each other and communicated largely through messages.
He said the remarks were his own personal thoughts
with little or no chance that the public would ever read them.
Pc Tideswell: “This comes down the thought
policing, I’m entitled to have thoughts, I was speaking to someone
I trust.
“They are my own personal thoughts, some made in
anger, some made in error.
“I can only apologise if I have upset anyone or
caused any upset. I have made the comments, but they were made in a
private conversation never intended to go out in to the public arena.
“They were to one person secured in a mobile
phone which is password protected.
“The extent the force had to go to get the phone
is questionable.
“These messages were so far ingrained in my
personal life, it was not my professional life. At the time I did not
think of the consequences, I would not have expected the public to
see them.
“The actions of Nottinghamshire Police have
caused that.”
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