A Dorset Police inspector, Nicholas Mantle, has been dismissed without notice after being found guilty of gross misconduct due to offensive posts on a WhatsApp group.
This decision follows a public misconduct hearing that concluded on Friday, 2 June 2023. Mantle returned to the panel on 15 August 2023, where the decision was made to expel him from the force.
The College of Policing will now place him on its barred list, preventing him from any future employment in policing.
Inspector Mantle was among four officers and one former officer who faced the hearing.
The allegations, received by Dorset Police’s Professional Standards Department in mid-2022, pertained to purported bullying incidents and discriminatory conduct by a group of officers from the Force Support Group (FSG).
During the alleged incidents, Mantle held the rank of sergeant and had supervisory authority over his team members.
The WhatsApp group under scrutiny contained numerous inappropriate messages.
While the panel did not find conclusive evidence that the officers made derogatory remarks verbally or displayed offensive wall art in their office, it did confirm that Mantle had posted two offensive images in the group.
He neither left the group nor confronted the derogatory behaviour of the officers under his supervision.
Alongside Inspector Mantle, PC Mark Jordan-Gill and former officer Paul Perdrisat were also found guilty of gross misconduct.
The panel dismissed PC Jordan-Gill immediately, and though Perdrisat had already resigned, it was noted that he would have faced a similar fate. Both individuals have also been placed on the barred list.
Two other officers, PC Michael Lowther and PC Matthew Young, were found guilty of misconduct.
PC Lowther, who had opposed the inappropriate behaviour in the group and eventually left, received a written warning.
Despite minimal participation, PC Young admitted to not challenging the derogatory actions and was given a final written warning.
Following the conclusion of the final hearing in respect of Inspector Mantle, Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Farrell, Dorset Police’s lead for professional standards, said:
“I would like to thank colleagues in our Counter Corruption Unit for the detailed and thorough investigation they presented to the panel, which enabled them to make the decision they have.
“Inspector Nick Mantle was in a trusted supervisory role when he breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour by not only failing to challenge the derogatory and biased actions of colleagues within the team but also encouraged it by posting two offensive images to the group.
“His lack of action in failing to challenge this behaviour and failing to act when PC Lowther called it out is completely unacceptable. This is not the type of leader we wish to have in our force and as this case has shown we will robustly investigate offences and, if appropriate, remove individuals from the organisation.
“The public quite rightly expect the highest standards of behaviour from serving police officers and staff as this is a core component of maintaining the trust of our communities. I know the actions of these officers will have let our communities down.
“It is important to remind the public that this behaviour is not indicative of the overwhelming majority of our staff and teams out delivering quality policing every day to protect people and make Dorset a safe county for everyone.
“We are committed to driving up standards of behaviour within Dorset and ongoing work includes adopting learning across the organisation from this case to stamp out such behaviour, delivering inclusion training to officers and staff, and ensuring our vetting and enhanced vetting obligations are being met and fit for purpose.”
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I would love to know what he actually did. I would not be in the least surprised to learn that it would have been no worse than anything one would hear in the pub.
Modern policing has become so woke as to be out of sight. Even 999 operators now have to question a caller’s choice of pronoun, which if they need an emergency service, is the least of their worries.