A FORMER Gwent Police officer who sexually assaulted a colleague while on a night out in Cardiff would have been sacked if he had not resigned, a misconduct hearing found.
Former PC Jack Bannister inappropriately touched a female officer – referred to as Officer A to protect her identity – while on a works night out at Turtle Bay in the city centre on December 12, 2021.
While the group were taking photographs, “former PC Bannister squeezed the buttocks of Officer A”, the panel heard.
The incident left Officer A “shocked” and “embarrassed”, and she told former PC Bannister that, as a police officer, he should not be behaving in that way.
Officer A reported that later that night, former PC Bannister had again inappropriately touched her.
Over the course of the night, former PC Bannister made comments towards the woman such as “You’re so beautiful”, “I wish I had someone like you”, “You’re naturally beautiful”, and “You’ve got such a nice bum”.
She asked him to leave, and did not see him for the remainder of the night.
The following morning, Officer A received a message from former PC Bannister apologising for his behaviour the night before. Other officers on the night out received the same message.
The gross misconduct panel heard evidence from PS Paul Evans, who reported seeing Officer A “jump suddenly while photographs were being taken”, and said that the woman had told him about former PC Bannister’s behaviour.
Two other officers reported that Officer A had told them about the incidents.
Former PC Bannister said in interview that he “had been drinking heavily” – throwing up in Turtle Bay’s toilets that night – and “due to his intoxication, he had limited memory of his actions”.
He was shown photographs taken on the night and CCTV from Turtle Bay, which corroborated the allegations, and he admitted the charges in the interview with Gwent Police’s professional standards department.
He said he was “horrified and embarrassed” by his behaviour.
Former PC Bannister resigned from Gwent Police in September 2022.
He did not appear at the hearing, which was held at the former Gwent Police headquarters in Croesyceiliog.
Chief Constable Pam Kelly, who chaired the panel, said she found former PC Bannister’s actions amounted to gross misconduct, and that he would have been dismissed if he had still been a serving officer.
It was proved that former PC Bannister breached standards of professional behaviour on two occasions, namely Standard Two: Authority, respect and courtesy, and Standard Nine: Discreditable conduct.
Chief Constable Kelly said: “The allegations against former officer Jack Bannister were found proven following incontrovertible evidence against him.
“Our communities deserve the very best from those serving them and they deserve the highest of standards.
“This former officer’s behaviour fell far below what I expect from all our officers, and I’m grateful to the people within our organisation who raised this and brought this conduct to our attention.
“It was important that the hearing went ahead in his absence.
“We will continue to send a clear message to colleagues and the public that this behaviour has no place on our service, and we will pursue and remove those who damage confidence in Gwent Police.
“His name will now be placed on the list of barred officers preventing him from working as an officer in future.”
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