Former Lancashire cop barred from policing after unwanted 'sexualised touching' of colleague

A former Lancashire police officer has been barred from returning to the service, after being found guilty of gross misconduct.

A disciplinary hearing for the officer, referred to only as Former PC X, took place on October 26 at Ormskirk Police Station. The officer was given anonymity in the hearing and cannot be named.

It was alleged that on December 16, 2023, Former Officer X sexually touched a colleague whilst off duty and without their consent, and as such, breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in the areas of Honesty and Integrity; Authority, Respect and Courtesy and Discreditable Conduct.

Former Police Constable X admitted to the following:

- That they failed to act with integrity by engaging in unwanted inappropriate sexualised touching, breaching the standards in respect of Honesty and Integrity.

- That their behaviour amounted to conduct which had the effect of violating the dignity of another and that they failed to act with respect and courtesy, breaching the standards in respect of Authority, Respect and Courtesy.

- By engaging in unwanted inappropriate sexualised touching, their behaviour breached the standards in respect of Discreditable Conduct.

- That their conduct amounted to Gross Misconduct and that, had they been a serving officer, then they would have been dismissed.

The panel found the allegations proved and their details have been added to the Police Barred List.

Dozens barred

It comes as new data revealed 59 Lancashire police officers were added to the barred list between 2020 and March 2026. The yearly breakdown is as follows:

2020/21: 6

2021/22: 4

2022/23: 8

2023/24: 14

2024/25: 16

2025/26: 11

Nationally, 757 officers were banned from serving after they were sacked for breaching professional standards in the year to the end of March 2026, up from 735 in 2024/25 and 594 in 2023/24.

The total is the highest number in a single year since the barred list was introduced at the end of 2017, the College of Policing said.

Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson, director of operational standards at the College of Policing, said: “Policing is built on trust and these figures show we will not hesitate to act when that trust is broken.”

Types of misconduct

In its report, the College of Policing set out the different reasons that officers were sacked and banned from working in policing, with multiple reasons cited in some cases.

The reasons included dishonesty in 142 cases, discriminatory behaviour in 110 and 101 unlawful access or disclosure of information. There were 87 cases involving sexual offences or misconduct, with a child sexual abuse in six instances and rape in five, and abuse of position for a sexual purpose in 46.

In terms of rank, 641 of those barred were police constables, 84 sergeants, 18 inspectors, five chief inspectors, five superintendents and four chief superintendents.

The report said that 334 serving officers were placed on the list, 397 after they had resigned and 26 after they had retired.

The forces with the highest number of officers added were the Metropolitan Police with 195 (current workforce 31,495), Greater Manchester Police with 46 (workforce 8,234) and West Midlands Police (workforce 8,174).