Former DC who ‘inappropriately touched’ colleague would have been dismissed
A former detective constable who made an “inappropriate comment and inappropriately touched” a colleague while off-duty on a work Christmas night out would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had he not already resigned.
A misconduct hearing on Thursday (January 25), found Mark Peploe breached standards of professional behaviour on four occasions– ‘honesty and integrity’, ‘authority, respect and courtesy’, ‘equality and diversity’ and ‘discreditable conduct’.
The former Gwent Police officer denied all three allegations relating to the evening of December 2022 or that he had breached the standards of professional behaviour.
However, after reviewing CCTV footage and the accounts of witnesses, Chief Constable Pam Kelly found that all allegations against former Det Con Peploe were proven and amounted to gross misconduct.
Ms Kelly said: “The allegations against former detective Mark Peploe were found proven following indisputable evidence against him.
“The behaviour of this former officer is totally unacceptable, and I am hugely grateful to the members of staff who have stepped forward allowing us to tackle this head-on and remove this individual.
“We will continue to send a clear message to colleagues and the public that we will pursue and remove those who damage confidence in Gwent Police as our communities expect and deserve the highest standards of the officers who serve them.”
Former DC Peploe, who had resigned from the service in January, did not attend the hearing.
He will now be placed on the police barred list.