Ex-police officer cleared of common assault charge

Google The front of Gloucestershire Constabulary's headquarters in GloucesterGoogle
He used to work in Gloucestershire Constabulary's control room

A former police officer has been acquitted of common assault by beating after a retrial.

Insp James Wyatt, of Cheltenham, had been charged with assaulting his wife in a Waitrose car park in January 2022.

He denied wrongdoing but was convicted after a trial at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court in January 2023.

On 17 January, after he asked for a retrial, a judge and two magistrates found him not guilty and overturned his conviction and sentence.

Mr Wyatt worked at Gloucestershire Police's control room as a force incident manager, before he was suspended when the allegation was made.

He then faced an accelerated misconduct hearing in November 2024 for other allegations such as messaging a sex worker, and posing for a Tinder profile picture in uniform while holding a firearm.

A panel found the allegations amounted to gross misconduct and he was added to the police barred list.

He had left the force by the time of the November panel.

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