Police officer sacked after letting domestic abuse suspect leave flat and 'covering up error with lies'

A Nottinghamshire police officer has been sacked after letting a domestic abuse suspect walk free from a flat before trying to cover it up with a "continuous series of lies". Responding to a 999 call in December last year, PC James Shekelton was told by a woman that she had been forced to stay in a bedroom for two days by her ex-partner.

The officer turned off his body worn camera before letting the suspect leave and later falsely claimed the man had gone before he arrived at the scene. He later told a detective his camera was switched off during the incident, before amending his statement to say the suspect was already leaving, something also found to be false.

At a misconduct hearing held on Wednesday, October 30, chief constable Kate Meynell said PC Shekelton repeatedly lied to “disguise his error”. She said: “He allowed [the suspect] to leave the scene when he shouldn’t have done. He made dishonest attempts to cover up his error.

"This was not one single instance of dishonesty but a continuous series of lies relating to the existence of evidence that was integral to the investigation." PC Shekelton joined the force in March 2021 after spending years as a Catholic priest in the Amazon Rainforest and desert areas of Mexico, the hearing at police headquarters in Sherwood Lodge, Arnold was told.

He apologised to his colleagues and the victim and blamed his actions on "genuine mistakes" and "sloppy" statements. He also said he felt "under-resourced" during a “very busy” shift and was going through a number of personal issues at the time.

However Ms Meynell said these explanations were "uncapable of belief", adding: "If an officer had made one error I would expect them to make sure to guard against any more." PC Shekelton, who was based at Mansfield Police Station, was sent to the incident at 4.55pm on December 13 after a 999 caller reported a female was being held in her flat by her ex-partner.

Body worn footage played at the hearing shows a woman, speaking via an interpreter, tell him that her ex-partner had pushed her onto the bed and kept her in the room for two days, not allowing her to go to the toilet. The video shows PC Shekelton radioing his colleague to “get here as fast as you can” before going to speak to the ex-partner who was sat on a sofa in the lounge.

He puts the allegations to the man, who responds by claiming the woman is an alcoholic. “This is not the first time she’s reported me to the police for nothing. I just want to go home,” the suspect says in the clip. The officer then switched off the camera before allowing him to leave.

PC Shekelton admitted he knew rules required him to keep his body camera on, but thought there was "nothing else to obtain". He added: "I let him go simply because I thought it was only an argument between him and the female.

"I thought there'd been a heated debate between the male suspect and female and nothing more." Presenting counsel Liz Briggs said: “There was clear disclosure of false imprisonment from [the woman] on his arrival.

"He was aware as he put it to [the ex-partner] and allowed him to leave without taking positive action. It’s clear he formed a view as to what was going on in that address. That’s why he allowed him to leave."

After the arrival of paramedics, the woman reported she had been raped multiple times by her ex-partner, who was subsequently arrested at his home. Once back at the police station, PC Shekelton uploaded the body worn footage but did not mark it for evidence, meaning it would only remain on the system for 31 days before deletion.

In a statement submitted later that night, he said the ex-partner had already left the scene when he arrived. The body worn footage was later found by a detective.

He contacted PC Shekelton, who replied saying the body worn camera was not on, but sent a follow-up email saying he had since realised it was in fact on. He then attempted to justify his actions with a further statement which said the suspect was leaving at the time of his arrival, something also found to be untrue.

PC Shekelton was dismissed without notice and barred from policing for life.