Two police officers from the West Midlands have appeared before a misconduct panel in order to respond to allegations that they referred to a suspected domestic violence victim as a “f****** slag” and a “b**ch” in an unintended voicemail left on the defendant's phone.
Constables Christopher Guest and Cavan O’Connell were due to meet Alex Faragher in order to obtain a statement regarding an alleged domestic incident she had reported earlier that evening.
When Ms. Faragher failed to meet the officers at her home, it is understood that the two officers at the centre of the case suggested the 20-year-old woman was intentionally trying to mislead them.
Suggesting in a recording which was inadvertently left on the young woman's voicemail that she "was giving them the runaround", Pc Guest proceeded to cast aspersions on the young woman.
Outlining the timeline of events last January, Alison Hewitt, counsel for the force's professional standard's department, said: "The complainant, the woman, who telephoned 999 was Alex Faragher. The officers agreed that they would return later to take a statement from her."
"But in a phone call made to her later that evening, in accordance with the allegations, there was an inadvertent recording of them talking about her in disparaging terms," she explained.
It has been established that both officers breached the force's professional standards, with PC Guest making the remarks in the first place and Pc O' Connell failing to rebuke him for doing so.
Acknowledging his unprofessional conduct, Pc Guest said: "I am truly sorry for the recording left on your phone and I'm sorry for the way it made you feel."
Insistent that it not a fair reflection of his standard conduct, he continued: "I've been a police officer for nearly 12 years. It's totally against my principles. I'm proud to be a police officer, and I'm totally sorry."
Defending PC O' Connell, lawyer, Brian Dean, asserted that while the remarks were ill-advised, they were not intended to cause harm, saying: "It's rather unsavoury but it was said in private and not meant to have any effect, or intended to have any effect, and it was foolish."
The hearing adjourned until Tuesday when the misconduct panel will determine whether they allegations have been proven.
