A police officer with "previously good character" has been sacked after she gave her phone number to someone at a pub while she was on duty.

Former PC Kelly Pearce was the subject of a Northamptonshire Police disciplinary hearing at the force's headquarters on 15 and 16 December.

A panel found it had been proven that Pearce had breached standards of professional behaviour last December when she engaged in the "inappropriate" conversation that was "of a personal nature and/or in furtherance of a personal relationship".

Pearce, an officer since March 2022, attended the hearing and denied the allegations amounted to gross misconduct, but she admitted misconduct.

The panel also heard how Pearce turned her body-worn video camera off when providing the person with her personal telephone number.

When the person sent Pearce a message at 00:35 GMT on December 23, 2024, she responded, which was inappropriate as she had met them in the course of her duties.

'Mentally exhausted'

The hearing report said: "In summary, she [Pearce] said that she had "sincere regrets" about the incident.

"She said that she gave her telephone number to put a stop to Person A's interactions with her. She recognised that she had crossed a professional boundary.

"She said that she had switched her body camera footage off because she had not wanted colleagues to view it, as they would have ridiculed her."

Pearce added that at the time of the incident, she had felt "isolated, unsupported" and "mentally exhausted".

She said that this information was being offered "by way of context and not as an excuse".

It was alleged that Pearce breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to integrity, discreditable conduct and orders and instructions.

The panel decided the most suitable outcome was dismissal without notice and "anything less than dismissal would seriously undermine public confidence in the police and would not act as a deterrent to others".

The former officer has the right to appeal. (BBC, but headline rejigged)

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