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Several police officers have been dismissed or barred from the force due to racism, victimisation and inappropriate sexual behaviour. A number of officers have faced misconduct panels at Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes this month for breaching standards of professional behaviour. PC Robert Potts, 47, attended a hearing between April 7-9 for victimising a colleague who he believed had reported him to the force’s professional standards department.
PC Potts was accused of “making derogatory and disrespectful comments” towards his colleague, who he believed reported him for driving a marked police car while on duty in July 2022 from Uckfield to Eastbourne, at speed, contravening various traffic regulations to collect three female friends from a hotel. The officer was dismissed without notice and will now be added to the College of Policing barred list which will prevent a return to policing. 'Unwanted and invasive' sexual conduct PC Olivia Clinton, 30, was accused of sexually assaulting two of her colleagues and making inappropriate comments towards them at a social event in January 2024.
PC Clinton, who resigned from Sussex Police in February, was barred from policing after a panel found that her behaviour was a breach of the standards of professional behaviour in respect of discreditable conduct and authority, respect and courtesy. She was found to have committed gross misconduct during the hearing on April 23. Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme, deputy head of force professional standards, said: “The officer’s actions were unwanted and invasive.
“This was extremely concerning because police officers and staff must behave in a manner that does not discredit the police service or undermine public confidence, whether on or off duty.” Racist and discriminatory remarks PC Jack Nicholson, 27, faced a misconduct hearing on April 24 where he was alleged to have made racist and discriminatory remarks towards one of his colleagues on holiday in March 2024. The officer, who was based in Brighton and Hove, resigned in January.
His behaviour was found to be a breach of the standards of professional behaviour in respect of discreditable conduct, authority, respect and courtesy and equality and diversity. He was added to the College of Policing barred list and would have been dismissed without notice if he was still employed. Detective Superintendent Wolstenholme described the incident as “appalling”.
Officer jailed for fraud and perverting course of justice PC Seren Sriganesh, 23, was the subject of an accelerated misconduct hearing for perverting the course of justice and a number of other fraud related offences in January this year. Between September 2020 and February 2024, the former officer f alsely nominated his parents as responsible for three separate driving offences and unlawfully accessed police systems to view details of one of these offences. Sriganesh also failed to declare he had six or more penalty points on his license prior to joining the force in June 2023 and did not disclose these points to his motor insurers.
The officer, who was based in Brighton, admitted the offences and was jailed on March 21 for 38 months, as well as disqualified from driving for two years. He also admitted conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, fraud by failing to disclose information and unlawfully obtaining personal data. A further charge of fraud by failing to disclose information was agreed to lie on file.
Sriganesh was barred from policing. ACC Court said: “The public rightly expect and deserve high standards from their police officers. "Former PC Seren Sriganesh's criminal behaviour and conduct goes against the fundamental principles of policing and was thoroughly investigated by the forces' Anti-Corruption Unit under the direction of the IOPC resulting in a criminal conviction and sentence.
” 'Zero-tolerance' towards those who 'don't respect the uniform' Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said there is “no place” in the force for those who don’t respect their role as a police officer. Ms Bourne added that there was a “zero-tolerance” approach towards those who fail to meet standards or exploit their position of authority. She said: “The public rightly expect police officers to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner) “Whilst we have seen a very welcome increase in the recruitment of additional police officers over recent years, there is no place in Sussex Police for people who don’t respect the uniform and unique responsibility and authority of being a warranted officer. “I have complete confidence in our chief constable’s commitment to the highest standards of behaviour and for maintaining a robust, zero-tolerance approach to those who fail to meet these standards or seek to exploit their authority and positions. “Sussex Police have an internal mechanism called 'Break the Silence' for officers and staff to report anonymously any incidents or concerns about colleagues and many misconduct cases have arisen from this route.
“I am reassured to see the thorough approach to vetting being taken by Sussex Police and I hope the public will feel confident too.” READ MORE: Ex-police officer found not guilty of assaulting member of public A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: "We expect consistently high standards of behaviour from all our officers and staff and are committed to identifying, investigating, and taking appropriate action in all cases of misconduct or criminality. "Those officers found to be acting below the expected standards are dealt with robustly, with sanctions including dismissal and being placed on the barred list to prevent them from ever working in policing again.
"These cases represent a very small minority of the thousands of dedicated and hard-working police officers we have working to protect local communities. "They have occurred across various different time periods, and this accumulation of subsequent hearings and proceedings has been as a result of factors out of our control such as the availability of chairs, court listings, and legal representatives.".
