Ex-cop's appeal against misconduct charges thrown out by his force

Retired South Shields officer Steve Appleton asked for the outcome of a Police Appeals Tribunal Hearing held last March to be reconsidered, with the result of last month’s discussion now made public.

It threw out three of the four allegations, concluding they amounted to gross misconduct, but took a fresh look at one in relation to accessing information about a man, his premises and contact with him.

It reached the decision that had he still in the service, he would have been sacked.

The initial hearing was told the four allegations covered discreditable conduct, confidentiality, orders and instructions and honesty and integrity, with all proven.

The force said it would not affect his pension, but he would be barred from working in any police role.

It was said Mr Appleton, who left the force in December 2017, made hundreds of calls to the friend of a wanted man, passing on confidential information from its computer system.

Documents detailed his contact with the men, named as Mr X and Mr Y, between March 2013 to June 2016 and an IT inquiry made relating to someone connected to his family.

The hearing was told he used the system in breach of its data protection and inappropriate association policies and how he remained in contact with Mr X, against his bosses orders.

It heard he:

*Accessed information about Mr X five times and details about his associates and premises connected to him

*When Mr Y was wanted on suspicion of assault, he accessed information when he was not an investigating officer, spoke to Mr X by phone and rang the wanted man, passing on confidential information

*Between September 2014 and June 2016, he “continued to associate with Mr X” making 495 calls or text to his phone, met him at least six times and failed to report it in line with inappropriate association procedures

*In November 2015, he accessed information about a person connected to his family “without a legitimate policing purpose”.

Other misconduct hearings held recently by the force were a complaint against a sergeant for swearing at a detainee, with management advice given, and a staff member sacked after they “fabricated stories regarding previous employment and incidents”.

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