Yorkshire police officer who assaulted colleague could be sacked

Police Constable Craig Gallant has been charged with gross misconduct, following the incident in October 2021.

According to the force, he assaulted an officer, after becoming abusive and aggressive, and damaged his vehicle and clothing.

Gallant was then issued with a conditional caution for assault and criminal damage in January last year.

The officer will face a misconduct hearing on Thursday and he could be dismissed without notice if he is found guilty of gross misconduct.

At a previous hearing, in November, PC Stephen Dodds was cleared of wrongdoing after he was accused of slapping a six-year-old girl on the bottom, on January 30 in 2020.

The child had claimed the West Yorkshire Police officer had hit her really hard when he was off duty, after she threw a tantrum during bedtime and threw a teddy bear at him.

But the misconduct panel said the allegation had already been dealt with at a crown court trial and the officer was acquitted because the incident “did not occur and the child was not telling the truth”.

Its ruling stated: “On the balance of probabilities the panel can not rely upon the evidence of the child due to the issues around consistency and credibility of the witness.”

The misconduct panel accepted that the girl had suffered an injury, which had been caused by a slap and discovered by a school teacher, but said it could not determine who slapped the child.

The girl’s mother told the misconduct hearing confirmed that PC Dodds had helped her put the child to bed, but said he had not been alone with the child at any point and he had not hit her.