Avon and Somerset officer who made crude remarks banned from policing

PC Connor Shefford also kissed a 5ft female bouncer on the cheek as he was being ejected from a venue. He placed his hands on her arms and told her: “I could pick you up and throw you,” although this was deemed as not in an aggressive way and resulted in the lesser finding of misconduct.

The officer, who was based in South Gloucestershire, would have been dismissed without notice had he not already resigned, the panel decided at a police misconduct hearing at Avon & Somerset Constabulary headquarters in Portishead on Thursday, September 26.

He will also be placed on a police barred list preventing him from working in law enforcement again.

The panel found that his behaviour was sexually motivated, “persistent and unwanted”.

Former PC Shefford denied the allegations but did not attend the hearing.

Barrister Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the force, said the case related to a shift night out on December 17, 2022, and that the officer went to three venues.

He said PC Shefford became “extremely intoxicated” and that he behaved inappropriately towards a door supervisor at the first location, The Mount Without, St Michael’s Hill, and to a female constable in The Brass Pig bar on Clifton Triangle.

Mr Ley-Morgan said the female bouncer asked him leave the first venue because of his behaviour 

He told the panel: “What is a troubling feature in this part of the case is not just his behaviour in relation to the door supervisor but also that he identified himself as a police officer and sought to persuade her not to throw him out.”

The barrister said she felt he was trying to intimidate her using his status.

Mr Ley-Morgan said: “He was arrogant and cocky as if he had some sort of power over her.

“It was as if he was untouchable. When he eventually gave up trying he kissed her on the cheek and he kissed her male colleague as well.

“She was disappointed and she refers to all the adverse publicity that the police have received over the last four or five years and she expresses disappointment that she’s now witnessed poor behaviour by a police officer first hand.

“It’s clearly behaviour that undermines confidence in the police service and shows the police in a bad light.”

‘He said PC Shefford made his way to Yia Mass bar in Park Street where there were a lot of other officers on their Christmas nights out and that he was asked to leave there too because he was being “annoying and over-familiar with people he did not know”.

Mr Ley-Morgan said: “He was getting an ex-boxer in a headlock.

“He’s effectively thrown out of a second venue.”

The barrister said the officer’s colleagues went to the Brass Pig and on their way saw people standing around a man lying face down on the ground, who turned out to be PC Shefford.

Mr Ley-Morgan said he managed to make his way there to join them where he kissed a female constable which the lawyer said was not consensual or reciprocal.

He said the colleague said in a statement: “The officer was not with it.

“He was highly intoxicated, his eyes weren’t there, he was all over the place, he was slurring his words, he was stumbling around.”

She said he told her crudely that he wanted to have sex with her.

The female said: “I didn’t feel upset but I felt uncomfortable.”

She said he repeatedly took her arm to try to lead her somewhere but she refused.

“It was persistent and unwanted,” the constable said.

“He wasn’t getting the hint that I wasn’t interested.

“My team were looking out for me. My colleagues stepped in to move me away from Connor about three times.”

Avon & Somerset Police Federation rep PC Marc Flavell, representing former PC Shefford, said the female constable did engage in sexual conversation with colleagues on the night out throughout the evening.

He said: “She was quite explicit in her wishes.”

PC Flavell said she nibbled the ear of one of her colleagues on the dancefloor.

He said the female was being flirtatious and using highly sexual language and she was reciprocal.

PC Flavell said there was no evidence that he identified himself as an officer at The Mount Without or that he used that to exercise power.

He said PC Shefford had ADHD which could impair his understanding of social encounters.

PC Flavell said that when the woman told him no in the Brass Pig, he accepted it and walked away.

“His behaviour towards the female door supervisor was not inappropriate and this is corroborated by witness accounts,” he added.

Announcing the panel’s verdict, Legally Qualified Chair (LQC) Callum Cowx, who is independent of policing, said the panel found PC Shefford did make sexual remarks to his colleague as alleged and that he took hold of her or attempted to on more than one occasion.

He said: “His behaviour was unwanted and inappropriate.

“It does not excuse his behaviour but it took place in the context of a shift night out where all had consumed alcohol to some level of intoxication where there was some degree of flirtatious behaviour and sexual commentary within the group as a whole.”

Mr Cowx said the female officer admitted there was flirtatious banter between the pair.

He said the panel ruled that PC Shefford was drunk and identified himself to the bouncer as a police officer.

The LQC said: ‘He remonstrated with her about being allowed back into the licensed premises.

“He placed his hands on the top of both her arms and said he could pick her up and throw her.

“Upon leaving those premises former PC Shefford kissed her and her male colleague each on the cheek.

“The panel was not satisfied that former PC Shefford acted in an aggressive manner but due to his size relative to [the bouncer], she may have perceived him as such.

“We decided that a final written warning was not sufficient in a case of persistent, sexually motivated advances towards a female, even when that female was a friend and a work colleague and when both were intoxicated.”

The panel found the officer breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to authority, respect and courtesy and discreditable conduct.”