‘Twerking’ police officer sacked for groping colleagues at party
A female police officer who groped two colleagues at a drunken party has been dismissed.
PC Pamela Pritchard, 29, twice put her hand into a male colleague’s crotch after drinking at Caernarfon Rugby Club in Gwynedd in March 2024 and then sat on his knee and kissed him.
A North Wales Police officer also grabbed a female colleague’s breasts after she “twerked” on the dance floor and later tried to kiss a senior colleague.
The panel at a misconduct hearing in Colwyn Bay, Conwy, found all the allegations against him were substantiated and that he had breached police standards of conduct.
PC Pritchard, who joined North Wales Police as a trainee in 2023, accepted his drunken behavior was inappropriate but denied it was gross misconduct.
He said he was at the hearing before He was “embarrassed” when he saw footage of himself on CCTVand I barely remembered what happened at the party on March 29, 2024.
The four-day hearing was told PC Pritchard was one of several officers who attended his colleague’s leaving party.
These included PC Pritchard and another male officer, identified at the hearing as “Police Constable B”.
PCB He said at the hearing on Monday she and another female colleague were in the pub with PC Pritchard when “PC Pritchard suddenly grabbed me under my belt and put his hand on my genitals outside my clothing”.
He said: “It was not appropriate in any way; I felt a bit humiliated at that point.”
He added that he then did the same thing again when a group of police officers came out to the smoking area.
“He grabbed my genitals from outside my clothes and I distinctly remember him squeezing them.”
PC Pritchard accepted his drunken behavior was inappropriate but denied gross misconduct [Facebook]
At approximately 22:00 BST PC Pritchard again approached PC B and sat on his knee.
“I remember him putting his hand around my neck and kissing me on the lips,” she said.
“It wasn’t appropriate; it was public. His behavior was becoming more and more unacceptable.”
The hearing was shown security cameras from the rugby club where PC Pritchard “twerked” on the dance floor in a series of suggestive dance moves.
A female police officer, identified only as “Constable A”, told the hearing: “PC Pritchard came up behind me, put both arms around my neck, then put them under my armpits and grabbed my breasts and squeezed them.”
PC Pritchard apologized to PC A when giving evidence at the hearing earlier this week.
He said: “My behavior that evening was inappropriate, I have never behaved like that before.
“I’m absolutely ashamed of what happened, I don’t know the person I saw on CCTV, all I can do is apologise.”
Breaking into tears, he said: “I feel like I’ve let the police down, I’ve let myself down and I’ve let my family down.”
He said he had “panics and nightmares” and felt “people thought I was a sexual harasser.”
Deputy Chief Constable Chris Allsop, chairman of the panel, said on Thursday that “all allegations against PC Pritchard have been proven”.
“Overall, the panel found that breaches of the standards were of medium to high seriousness that could justify dismissal as gross misconduct,” he said.
Lawyer Fiona Clancy, representing PC Pritchard, argued he should be allowed to continue his employment with the force.
“He accepts his behavior was unacceptable. “This was a brief, brief incident and there is no risk of this happening again.
“PC Pritchard has been doing voluntary work and keeping fitness levels high while awaiting this hearing – there is real motivation to continue to serve the community.”
North Wales Police Deputy Chief Constable Nigel Harrison said PC Pritchard’s behavior “fell well below the standard we expect from our police officers”.
“It’s OK for police officers to relax and have fun off duty, but his behavior that night was unacceptable by anyone’s standards,” he said.
“He was rightfully dismissed, ending his very short career with us and prevented from serving in any other UK force.”
