Dorset police officer PC Martin Briggs found guilty of misconduct for cutting off three female trainee officers’ earrings

A DORSET police officer has been found guilty of misconduct and given a final written warning after he cut the earrings off three female recruits when he insisted they had to be removed prior to training.

PC Martin Briggs told them he would use bolt cutters to do it at the force’s headquarters in Winfrith on 17th April last year.

The student officers were due to take a fitness test but, before it started PC Briggs ordered all the trainees to remove jewellery. When the three recruits said they could not take out their earrings he left the room, came back with the tool and ordered them to come into an office one by one to have them removed.

Testifying at a public misconduct hearing held at Dorset Police’s HQ, the officers said they were told to put their heads down on a jacket on a desk and then had their earrings “forcibly cut” off.

The women said they were left “distressed and embarrassed” after their ordeal. They said they had not protested beforehand about having their earrings removed because they feared they would be failed on the course.

Although PC Briggs did not use the bolt cutters on the three officers, instead removing the jewellery with smaller snippers, they said they had “honestly thought” they would be used.

PC Briggs claimed at the tribunal that he had the “best intentions” and had not wanted the three officers to have their training “delayed”.

He also said that he believed they had consented to the removal.

But the misconduct panel found that the students had not given “free and genuine consent” but had “submitted”.

While it was accepted by the panel that the bolt cutters could not physically have been used, it found that the students thought they would, and that PC Briggs had taken them with the intention of the students believing they were to be used.

It found that PC Briggs, who was part of the force’s operational training unit, had breached the standards of professional behaviour and was guilty of gross misconduct. He was issued with a final written warning which will be in place for five years.

His colleague, PC Samuel Davies, was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour by not stopping the cutting of the jewellery, or reporting it had happened. He was found guilty of misconduct and was issued with a written warning that will remain in place for 18 months.

Speaking after the panel’s findings, Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Farrell said: “I was saddened to hear about this incident involving the very team of officers who are expected to demonstrate impeccable standards of behaviour and respect to our new student officers as they begin their policing journey with us.

“Their actions on that day fell below the standards expected of anyone working within Dorset Police, and the outcomes delivered by the panel reflect the seriousness of this.

“The panel found that there was confusion over the dress code policy for officers taking part in the fitness test, and since this incident we have already reviewed our policies and training joining instructions so it is made very clear to officers that no jewellery or piercings must be worn.

“Tackling unethical or unacceptable behaviour remains a force priority, and I would encourage members of the public to report them to the force so they can be thoroughly investigated.”