Cleveland PC who urinated in shop guilty of gross misconduct

General Chat In The News
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PC Amelia Shearer of Cleveland Police wept after being found guilty of gross misconduct following the incident in Urban Outfitters in York last year. The new police officer is at risk of dismissal after a disciplinary panel found she had urinated in a clothes shop fitting room while drunk off-duty.

The panel in Middlesbrough found her conduct was discreditable and breaches of honesty were proven. It was adjourned to decide whether she will be sacked. The panel’s chair, Ogheneruona Iguyovwe, said: “Police officers are expected to maintain high standards of behaviour. They have to ask themselves if their actions might result in a member of the public losing confidence in the policing profession. Officers are required to act with integrity and honesty at all times.”

During the three-day hearing, the panel was told probationer PC Shearer had been in York with a friend while off-duty on 11 September. In under four hours she drank half a bottle of Prosecco, three cocktails and a Jack Daniels and Coke before going to the store. While there she is alleged to have asked a sales assistant if the store had toilets, and when told it did not she went into a changing room cubicle.

The Middlesbrough-based officer, who studied a Masters in criminal investigations, told the hearing she was drunk, described her and friend as “loud and giggly”, but denied relieving herself. “I haven’t done that, I went to the changing room to resolve an issue with my underwear,” she said.

Less than an hour after being asked to leave Urban Outfitters she was questioned in a nearby street by a North Yorkshire police officer, the panel heard.

Olivia Checa-Dover, for the force, told the panel the evidence against the officer was “overwhelmingly strong”, and the two shop workers who gave evidence were telling the truth.

Nine changing rooms at the shop had to be closed so the changing room could be cleaned, the panel also heard.

I am no longer shocked or surprised by the gross “antics” of drunken young women - the streets of my nearest seaside town run with their urine, faeces and vomit … mingled in, of course, with those of the men … :078:

Peeing inside a shop, though, is an “antic” that I’ve not heard of before … :neutral_face:

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Peeing in a changing room is gross misconduct and an inconsiderate thing for anybody to do, in my opinion - and if she is supposed to be training to be a PC, she should be setting a good example - not going out binge drinking and peeing on the floor in shops.
If she has done that and then lied about it, what kind of a police officer would she be? Probation is a method of weeding out the unsuitable ones before they are given a permanent job - I’d say this young woman has blown her chance.

She wasn’t so drunk that she did not realise she needed to use a loo, if she had asked the shop assistant if they had loos. There is plenty of eating places and bars in Ousegate, near the Urban Outfitters shop, where she could have dashed into to use the loo if she was desperate.

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One action cost her the job of a lifetime. Silly woman.

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My abiding memory of Britain when I returned for my old man’s funeral in the late 1980s was the dirt and the stench of urine in every corner and car park staircase. That was Thatcher’s Britain for you!

(The other memory is the shock of having to pay for parking everywhere.)

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Cleveland Police officer keeps her job after urinating in shop

A police officer has kept her job despite urinating in a clothes shop fitting room while drunk off-duty and then lying to her bosses about it.

PC Amelia Shearer, 24, of Cleveland Police was found guilty of gross misconduct following the incident in Urban Outfitters in York last year.

A disciplinary panel in Middlesbrough found her conduct was discreditable and she had been dishonest. It decided not to sack her but instead issued a final written warning.

The panel’s chairwoman, Ogheneruona Iguyovwe, said: “There is scope for her to be rehabilitated, there is scope for her to set the record straight and to begin on a new path.”

PC Shearer claimed to have used the changing rooms to adjust her bra - but had told her superior Insp Christian Duree she had been trying on clothes during a phone call the day after it happened. She explained that she only gave him an “abridged version” of events but Cleveland Police accused her of lying - and the panel agreed.

Olivia Checa-Dover, acting for the force, said the conclusion that PC Shearer had been dishonest meant she was now “undeployable”. She said the fact the officer had lied while being questioned on oath would have to be disclosed to defence lawyers in any future investigations she carried out.

For Shearer, the good news … and the bad news … :neutral_face:

AFAIK, “undeployable” does not exist - perhaps Checa-Dover meant “non-deployable” … :man_shrugging:

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What possible function can a lying policewoman have in the force? Even a deskjob is untenable, because she could lie about evidence if it suited her. Her nature has shown her to be untrustworthy, so…why keep her on?

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Perhaps she could go “undercover” … :wink:

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Probably cheaper to let her resign than to go through a dismissal appeal case.

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I’m surprised she was given another chance after that behaviour.
The local paper reported that her final written warning will cover the next 5 years, so if she puts a foot wrong during that period, she’ll be out on her ear.

Apparently it cost the shop nearly £500 to get professional cleaners in to clean up the carpet - plus the changing rooms had to be closed until it was done, which probably lost them trade.
The criminal damages charge which the police wanted to bring against Shearer was dropped by the CPS, so maybe there was not enough evidence to stand up in a court of law?
At the very least, the young woman could offer to pay the shop for the cleaning bill. :rage:

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Should have buried your old man in Yorkshire Bruce. Apart from the odd changing room (although Mrs Fox and me have never come across it) car parks are usually quite tidy and clean.

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Actually on my last visit York was where I paid the most for parking - £9 for 2 hours.

However to be fair I think the awful state of Britain in the late 80s was due to Thatcherism and that appalling woman. There was also a train crash, the trains were filthy in readiness for sale, also an air crash (Lockerbie; I can’t blame Thatcher for that) and a grey, miserable atmosphere about the whole place I exclude Glasgow which was a welcome relief.

It was completely different when I last visited (apart from the even more outrageous parking fees and over priced transport).

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It was a bit naughty of her and l do not condone her action in any way… but to close nine cubicles… was it a tsunami?

Yet, it’s strange that when incontinent people, or little children do wee wees in shops, no one really bats an eyelid… except to step over it.
The same if someone vomits in a shop… a member of staff fetches a mop and bucket, clears it up and puts a ‘Hazard…Wet Floor’ sign up.

I am afraid, no one will let PC Amelia Shearing forget her action and she will be labelled with some unfortunate nickname… probably forever.

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It gives the name ‘PC’ a whole new meaning Arty…
:laughing:

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She is keeping her job, maybe her Macarena Dancing Skills were a factor in the disciplinary hearing.

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Shopworker Ryan Weir found the foul-smelling wet patch … :woozy_face:

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A quick look on Google maps indicates there’s a Nandos and a Byrons less than 50 yards away. Complete mystery why she didn’t go there as she’ll surely have felt the need coming on.

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Lucky Nandos and Byrons!

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Mind you I have pee’d in some odd places.

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Should you have been court martialled?

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Not in the quartermaster’s store I trust?

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