Sergeant sexually assaulted colleague on night out

A West Yorkshire Police officer who sexually assaulted a colleague on a night out has been found guilty of gross misconduct by a tribunal.

Sgt Natalie Chandler put her hand up her colleague's dress and touched her intimately while out drinking in Leeds city centre on 25 January last year, a police misconduct panel found.

The officer was also found to have lifted her top and flashed people on the same night out, while an allegation she had made "inappropriate" comments to two officers was also proven.

Ms Chandler, who had been with the force since 2014 according to her service record, would have been sacked had she not already resigned in November.

The panel heard that Ms Chandler's hand had moved from a fellow officer's thigh before moving up her dress on the night out.

It was said the victim's account was corroborated by other officers who described seeing her in "discomfort" and "shock".

Ms Chandler had earlier allegedly asked the officer if she was a "little bit bi", which the panel said contributed to the appearance of her actions being sexually motivated.

The hearing was also told that the former officer had behaved in a "sexually provocative manner during the evening out, straddling other police officers and lifting her top whilst on the dancefloor".

It was said that at a separate point in the evening, she "ordered" one officer to touch another in a sexual manner after suggesting the two colleagues should be in a relationship.

Ms Chandler did not attend the hearing, which took place on 18 December and was summarised in papers published online by the police standards department this week.

She had denied the allegations, but refused to offer an account of the events of the evening in question, according to her response when the claims were first put to her.

The panel found all three allegations against her proven.

In their findings, they added her actions would "undermine public confidence in policing given the public expectation and a legal requirement that the officer should not sexually assault persons or behave inappropriately".

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