A cop who kicked a man in the chest in an 'unprovoked attack' during a drunken night out in Manchester has been sacked by Greater Manchester Police.
PC Jakub Mielczareck - who was cautioned for common assault - was said to have 'consumed an excessive amount of alcohol' and been 'clearly severely intoxicated' at the time. The victim sustained injuries described as 'relatively minor'.
The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Stephen Watson, chaired a misconduct hearing at which Mielczareck was dismissed from the force with immediate effect.
In a ruling now published on GMP's website, Chief Constable Watson said the then officer 'attended a social function' in Manchester on December 13, 2021. The hearing was told 'having consumed an excessive amount of alcohol', he assaulted a passing member of the public by 'kicking the aggrieved party to the chest area'. It amounted to a common assault and Mielczareck, who later admitted his guilt, accepted a caution for the offence.
The hearing was told the then officer accepted he breached standards of professional behaviour - namely discreditable conduct - and that the circumstances amounted to gross misconduct. Chief Constable Watson determined the breaches were proven.
Mielczareck attended the hearing in person and 'made a fulsome apology for his actions', said the Chief Constable, who called it a 'genuine and heartfelt statement of remorse'. He said it 'remains very powerfully the case that the principal objective in the conduct of these hearings must be to preserve public confidence in the police service'. No age or address for Mielczareck has been confirmed. It's also not been revealed on which GMP division he served.
In his ruling, the Chief Constable said: "I consider that PC Mielczareck's culpability must be regarded as high. He stands cautioned for the commission of a criminal offence, his actions were deliberate albeit unplanned and, whilst he was clearly severely intoxicated, were carried out in the full knowledge that his conduct was both patently unlawful and of the character that, by definition, posed a danger to another.
"PC Mielczareck's conduct and caution inevitably brings the profession into disrepute and undoubtedly damages the confidence that the public might otherwise wish to place in their police officers."
The hearing was told the injuries sustained by the victim were 'relatively minor'. No age for the man has been revealed, or an exact location.
But Chief Constable Watson said PC Mielczareck 'was clearly behaving so badly as to cause colleagues to seek to restrain him in the public realm'. Character references supplied on his behalf 'express the clear conviction' that the offence 'runs contrary to the officer's usual standards of behaviour'.
"Whilst not seeking to blame his misconduct on the fact of his having experienced a degree of stress due to his domestic and family circumstances, I do accept that this issue does provide some context as to his seemingly out of character behaviour," said Chief Constable Watson.
He said the victim was 'clear' that PC Mielczareck's actions have 'seriously damaged his trust and confidence in the police service' - and called it an 'unprovoked attack'.
"It is clear that his shock was compounded at the discovery of the fact that his assailant was a police officer. PC Mielczareck's offending behaviour was clearly unlawful, contrary to the clearest of instructions as to the standards required of our officers, and reckless as to the potential risk of serious injury to another implied in his actions.
"What is clear to me is that this episode marks a terrible lapse in judgement which flies in the face of the evidence provided, which is to suggest that PC Mielczareck is an otherwise decent and hardworking officer who had shown significant early potential."
He was dismissed from the force with immediate effect and his name will be added to the College of Policing's Barred List.
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