A police chief constable found guilty of a string of misconduct charges, including storing intimate images on his police mobile phone, has been ordered to quit.
Nick Gargan will become the second police chief for Avon and Somerset to be forced out in three years by the same elected police and crime commissioner, Sue Mountstevens.
Following a disciplinary process that cost £580,000, Ms Mountstevens announced that she would force Mr Gargan to resign or retire because he had abused his position and let down his colleagues – despite being cleared of more serious gross misconduct allegations.
Ms Mountstevens had faced pressure from police groups and retired officers to make him retire after initial indications suggested he would keep his job.
Sue Mountstevens, Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner (PA)
Mr Gargan’s disciplinary hearing, which was held behind closed doors last month, found him guilty of eight charges of misconduct over the leaking of information, interfering with a recruitment process and using a police-issued iPhone to “send, receive and store intimate emails and images, and intimate text messages” with his then partner.
The panel cleared him of wrongdoing over his contacts with junior officers.
However, the commissioner’s office released redacted details of the allegations, revealing how he had asked a female officer to join him at an official function. When the officer expressed concern that her supervisor did not know she was going, Mr Gargan responded by saying “fuck it”, the papers showed.
He later told the same woman in a text message that she was “rocking a bit of a Daisy Duke look,” according to investigation papers released by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Read more: Gargan to face internal charge of gross misconduct
The panel heard that Mr Gargan, who was single, had previously been warned by Ms Mountstevens about conducting relationships with junior officers.
In a statement, Ms Mountstevens said Mr Gargan “has lost the confidence of local people, police officers and staff”.
Mr Gargan expressed his disappointment at the decision. “He has been found guilty of misconduct and has apologised for that,” according to a statement on his behalf released by the Chief Police Officers Staff Assocation. “But the panel found that none of the alleged breaches of standards amounted to gross misconduct.”
