A FORMER North Wales Police officer would have been sacked had he not resigned after sharing body-worn footage he had recorded in the course of his employment with his then-partner.

Police Constable Matthew Roberts was found guilty of gross misconduct at a hearing at North Wales Police’s headquarters in Colwyn Bay on April 3.

Roberts had already resigned from the force, having admitted the allegations made against him in February.

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The hearing was told that, between January and November 2022, he was in a relationship with another serving officer with North Wales Police throughout this time.

On numerous occasions, while he was off-duty, he showed his partner footage that had been taken from his own body-worn camera, including:

  • The forced removal of a female from private premises and of her spitting at Roberts as he did so.
  • The discovery of a deceased male in a bedroom.
  • The arrest of a drunk and abusive male at a bus stop.
  • The arrest of a young male complaining that Roberts had aggravated or caused him a broken wrist.

In late 2022, Roberts took a baby to hospital, having arrested its mother, before sending pictures of the baby via WhatsApp to his partner.

He told his partner not to tell anyone that he had sent her them, while there was evidence to suggest he found aspects of some of the footage he shared with her “amusing”.

Roberts did not attend the hearing on April 3, but had previously accepted that he had abused his position and that his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

Indeed, the panel chairing the misconduct hearing found that “the public would be very shocked at the misuse of these images and the footage”.

In addition, Roberts’ actions were deemed “deliberate and planned” and carried out “for his own personal advantage”.

Roberts was said to suffer from poor mental health, and had received one commendation in his short time as a serving police officer.

The panel concluded: “The former officer’s behaviour did cause great harm to public confidence in the profession of policing.

“We were satisfied that the misconduct was so serious that only an outcome of dismissal without notice was justified.”