A Bedfordshire Police superintendent has been found to have committed gross misconduct by repeatedly lying to senior officers about a relationship with a member of staff.
Superintendent Nick Lyall was asked about an alleged affair with a member of police staff in a meeting with senior colleagues who had concerns it was an abuse of his rank and influence.
He initially denied the relationship, and then went on to repeat the lie to a further two senior officers in the following days.
He subsequently admitted the relationship and claimed he had lied because he panicked when questioned.
Following a three-week hearing at Wyboston, a misconduct panel on Friday, October 2, 2020, found that, while the relationship was not deemed inappropriate, these lies each breached the standards of behaviour for honesty, integrity and discreditable conduct, which amounted to gross misconduct.
Further to this, he was alleged to have engaged in sexualised text messaging on his work phone.
The panel heard he had wiped the phone in a bid to cover up the communications.
This was found to be discreditable conduct, which amounted to gross misconduct.
T/Assistant Chief Constable Sharn Basra said: “We expect all of our officers, but particularly senior members of the force, to lead by example and set the highest levels of integrity which are so essential in maintaining and building the trust, legitimacy and confidence of the people that we serve.
“The public rightfully expect our officers to be honest and trustworthy in everything they do. Senior officers in this force need to make incredibly difficult decisions under pressure on a daily basis. Any distrust between officers in such an environment could be catastrophic.
“Superintendent Nick Lyall’s behaviour fell well short of the standards we expect and this case shows we will not tolerate such behaviour.”
A further two charges were dismissed during the hearing.
Supt Lyall remains suspended pending the outcome of a further hearing to decide on the sanctions.
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