Retired Hampshire police officer guilty of gross misconduct after "inappropriately touching" female colleagues

A disciplinary tribunal found that Pc Keith Hall, who has retired from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, touched the bottom of a colleague, referred to as Officer A, while off duty after a leaving do in a bar in March 2022.

And in May of the same year, the panel found he acted inappropriately towards another colleague, Officer B, while on duty by running two fingers down her back.

The tribunal, sitting at Fareham Police Station, ruled that Hall would have been sacked for the two incidents if he had not already left the force. Assistant Chief Constable Lucy Hutson said: "Keith Hall's behaviour towards two of his colleagues was abhorrent and will never be tolerated.

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"It is not ok to touch people without their consent. Not only has he caused considerable distress to the two women he touched, but he has shown a total lack of understanding for the effect his behaviour has had on them.

"Inappropriate and sexualised behaviour towards women, whether a colleague or a member of the public, has absolutely no place in policing. We have a zero tolerance approach to anyone who does not meet this standard, and have a safe and confidential process where people can raise their concerns for these to be robustly investigated."

George Thomas, representing the police force, told the hearing that inappropriate touching was "unexpected, unwelcome and without consent" and showed a lack of respect for the female colleagues. He added that it amounted to a breach of standards of professional behaviour in respect of authority, respect and courtesy, and discreditable conduct.

Officer A broke down in tears as she explained to the hearing why she made a complaint against Hall, saying: "If something happened in the future and I hadn't said anything, because of all the media attention on the Met, I couldn't have forgiven myself if something had happened."

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The panel was told that a friend found Officer A in a "distressed" state following the incident. Officer A told the tribunal that Hall was "very, very drunk" when the incident happened and she later sent a WhatsApp message to Officer B, which described Keith as a “predator”.

In the second incident, Mr Thomas said that Officer B was working a day shift when Hall "ran two fingers down her spine from her neck to the bottom of her back". He added: "It's the type of behaviour police are expected to prevent and not participate in themselves."

Hall had denied the two allegations saying that he did not remember the one against Officer A because of how much he had drunk and he said that if it had happened it was an accident. He denied the incident against Officer B happened at all.