Detective Constable Claire Fitzpatrick, 44, is accused of 25 counts of unprofessional behaviour between summer and December 2017 in Bedwas police station in Caerphilly where she was a temporary sergeant.
The mum-of-two defended her actions, telling a tribunal panel in Cwmbran there was a “culture of banter” in the station.
She told the police force disciplinary hearing she regularly used the c-word as it was "just the nature of the place" and had “replaced the f-word as her swear word of choice”.
Fitzpatrick admitted a number of the accusations but insisted her words were said “in jest” and denied misconduct.
The mum-of-two admitted asking a PC if he had a girlfriend in front of other officers and whether he would like an affair with an “older woman”.
When he said no, Fitzpatrick replied: “I’ll be gentle I promise.”
Explaining her words, the detective told the panel she realised they were inappropriate almost as soon as she said them.
She said: “I met the officer a couple of months before. There was a bit of banter.
“I said: ‘Well if you ever fancy an affair with a fatter, ugly, older woman who wears glasses I have a number.’ He said no thank you.
“In response I pretended to throw up in my mouth, and he moved away to sit down.
“I thought instantly that I had said the wrong thing at the wrong time. I went over to him, put my hand on his shoulder and said that I didn’t mean it, that he didn’t know my sense of humour and that I was sorry.
“He kind of acknowledged that. He knew I wasn’t serious.”
The tribunal panel also heard complaints had been made about Fitzpatrick breaking wind and giving inappropriate reasons for doing so.
The detective admitted to the panel she had farted on a number of occasions outside the sergeant’s office at Bedwas police station.
She told the tribunal: “It wasn’t [done] deliberately”.
She added: “I would joke about it. Sometimes I would speak like the character Borat, or use a silly voice to say ‘Rather out than in’".
Fitzpatrick is also accused of pulling a driver over and telling him he was “driving like a c***”.
The panel also heard a colleague who was in the car with her at the time later told officers about the
incident when they returned to the police station.
She said: “The officer with me said: ‘Sergeant, you can’t say that to him’.
“I took a deep breath with my head in my hands, and said I’m sorry to the driver.
“The driver also apologised for his driving and his manner towards us.”
The mum-of-two was also accused of loudly asking a colleague if she “had any cream for thrush” inside the station.
She said: “I wasn’t suffering from thrush at the time, so I wasn’t asking her for some literally.
No comments:
Post a Comment