Catherine Smith was dismissed from the pressure for the ‘severe abuse of belief’
A police officer harassed an individual over a chronic interval earlier than mendacity to investigators in an try to mislead them. Police constable (PC) Catherine Smith from South Wales Police would have been dismissed due to her behaviour had she not already resigned, chief constable Jeremy Vaughan stated following a misconduct listening to.
Smith was accused of pursuing a sustained course of conduct in opposition to a person referred to solely as “Individual A”. Between February 2023 and June 2025 she despatched harassing textual content messages, posted offensive gadgets, made false reviews to police, and attended Merthyr Mixed Court docket as a part of the harassment.
These actions led to her arrest on June 3 on suspicion of harassment. Throughout an interview she denied the allegations in opposition to her, stating that another person was accountable and had utilised her broadband to make contact with Individual A.
Smith went additional and advised false strains of inquiries to workplaces. She was bailed following the interview. For our free each day briefing on the largest points going through the nation signal as much as the Wales Issues e-newsletter right here.
New proof led to her re-arrest in July 2025 at which level she admitted mendacity and confessed to a lot of incidents she had beforehand denied.
She attended Bridgend Bridewell in August the place she was given two conditional cautions for separate felony offences of pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to harassment and wilfully obstructing a constable within the execution of her responsibility by mendacity in her police interview.
Smith accepted the 2 felony cautions in opposition to her however declined to attend the misconduct listening to or submit a proper written response.
Chief constable Vaughan stated Smith’s behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and described her actions as a “severe abuse of belief”.
“It’s unacceptable for law enforcement officials, who’re liable for implementing the legislation, to interrupt the legislation themselves,” he stated.
He recognized a number of aggravating options together with the truth that the harassment had spanned greater than two years, that Smith had lied to investigators, and that she had solely informed the reality as soon as her deception had been uncovered.
In his resolution Mr Vaughan made clear that dismissal was the one final result that might keep public confidence in policing.
He stated: “The general public rightly count on our officers to uphold the best skilled requirements, to uphold the legislation and never break it themselves, and former PC Smith has failed to take action. . There isn’t any room in South Wales Police for this kind of behaviour.
“The requirements {of professional} behaviour apply the second you stroll by means of the door. This kind of behaviour whether or not on or off responsibility won’t be tolerated in any method.”
The end result of the listening to was that Smith’s misconduct was so severe that she would have been instantly dismissed had she not resigned.
Smith’s identify may also be referred to the Faculty of Policing to be positioned on the barred checklist.
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