Police officer dismissed for inappropriate contact

A police officer has been dismissed and barred from the profession for maintaining "entirely inappropriate" contact with a man on bail.

A misconduct panel found PC Gabriella Gilchrist, formerly of Wiltshire Police, failed to sever contact with the individual despite the procedures being "imposed for her safety".

The hearing, held at Wiltshire Police headquarters between 28 April and 2 May, concluded Ms Gilchrist's behaviour had amounted to gross misconduct.

Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper said: "We remain resolute in our commitment to rooting out any behaviour that falls short of what our communities expect and deserve."

The panel considered six allegations against Ms Gilchrist and upheld them all.

She was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour for orders and instructions, honesty and integrity, and discreditable conduct.

As a result, she was dismissed without notice and will be prevented from working in policing in the future.

DCC Cooper said: "PC Gabriella Gilchrist has been found to have been associating with someone that it was entirely inappropriate to have an association with.

"She has failed to follow the correct procedures in relation to registering her association with this individual despite being told to do so."

He added processes for registering notifiable associations are in place to safeguard the integrity of officers, protect the public and "prevent the opportunity for corruption or compromise of information".

"She has engaged in contact with the male trying to induce him to breach bail conditions imposed for her safety," he continued.

"These actions fall considerably short of the public expectations of honesty and integrity in police officers, even off duty.

"PC Gilchrist has failed in this duty and has rightly been brought to account for her actions.

"Only through eradicating wrongdoing from our organisation can we ensure that we maintain and build trust and confidence within our communities."

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