Misconduct Hearing: Officer dismissed after falsifying evidence

An officer who let a domestic violence suspect leave the scene of a crime and then falsified evidence has been dismissed from the force.

An accelerated misconduct hearing was held at Nottinghamshire Police Force HQ in Sherwood Lodge on Wednesday 30 October.

The hearing was open to both the press and the public and chaired by the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police, Kate Meynell.

The hearing heard that on December 13, 2023, a woman reported that she had been assaulted and held against her will by her ex-partner.

PC James Shekelton was deployed to the incident and activated his body-worn camera.

After speaking with the woman he entered another room and spoke to the suspect who told the officer he had done nothing wrong and wanted to go home.

PC Shekelton turned off his body worn video and allowed the suspect to leave the address.

He uploaded his body-worn footage on December 13 but did not mark it as evidence, which meant it would not have been retained.

The hearing said that this was a deliberate attempt to hide what he had done.

In the officer’s statement, he stated the suspect was not at the address on his arrival, which was untrue.

The domestic incident was assigned to a detective constable to investigate. When the detective asked for PC Shekelton’s body worn footage, the officer told him he had not turned his camera on at the scene.

The hearing heard this was another deliberate attempt to conceal his actions.

PC Shekelton then attempted to justify his actions with a further statement which said the suspect was leaving at the time of his arrival.

The suspect was not leaving and was on the sofa in his ex-partner’s address.

PC Shekelton admitted errors had been made but told the hearing they were “genuine mistakes” rather than attempts to be deliberately misleading.

The hearing found that the officer had breached the following standards of professional behaviour – duties and responsibilities, honesty and integrity, discreditable conduct and order and instruction.

He was dismissed from the force and placed on the police barred list.

Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: “Honesty and integrity is paramount for all police officers and the actions of this officer fell far below the high standards expected.

“His dishonesty was deliberate and repeated.

“This was not a single instance of dishonesty, but a continuous series of lies relating to the existence of evidence that was integral to the investigation.

“His conduct undermines public trust and confidence and therefore he must be dismissed and placed on the barred list.”