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Police criticised on firearms officer who had sex on duty

The police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, has criticised Gwent Police for the way it dealt with a complaint about a firearms officer who had sex on duty.

PC Shaun Jenkins was on armed patrol in the Caerphilly area in 2010, when he had sex with a woman at a house he owned.

The woman's husband complained about his behaviour, but Gwent Police decided it was not a dismissible offence.

The IPCC said the force breached the complainant's rights by finalising the disciplinary process before he could exercise his right of appeal to the IPCC.

The complainant appealed to the IPCC, who decided PC Jenkins' actions constituted gross misconduct. He was then dismissed.

PC Jenkins appealed, and a Police Appeal Panel reinstated him in 2012.

Gwent Police's head of professional standards was removed from his role over how the case was dealt with.

Any officer having sex on duty is unacceptable behaviour that falls well below what is expected of all police officers. Those who carry firearms are rightly subject to the highest standards of training, procedures and discipline.

The manner in which this complaint was originally handled by Gwent Police is unacceptable and their attempts to 'fast-track' the complaint and deal with it outside the formal regulations are not good enough.

The finding of the Police Appeals Panel that the gun was never out of PC Jenkins' direct and immediate control because it was in a holster, attached to his trousers, which were attached to him, albeit around his ankles, is surprising.

I am also bemused by the panel's conclusion that his conduct did not significantly downgrade the protection to the public because there was nothing to suggest he could not have been back in the police vehicle within a minute or two. These findings can only undermine public confidence in the credibility of the police discipline system.

– Tom Davies, IPCC Commissioner for Wales