Cop allegedly left vulnerable woman feeling 'dirty and violated' with graphic sexual messages, misconduct panel told

A police dog handler allegedly developed an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable woman, sending graphic sexual messages on social media that left her feeling “dirty and violated”, a misconduct panel heard. PC Philip Paul Nicholls, based in South Gloucestershire, repeatedly told the female, a survivor of serious domestic violence, on X – formerly Twitter – and Instagram that he wanted to have sex with her, it was alleged.

The woman, Ms B, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she feared the officer was “grooming” and “stalking” her, the panel was told on day one of the hearing at Avon & Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead on Monday, October 21. Barrister Matt Holdcroft, representing the force, said PC Nicholls first contacted her because they shared a love of dogs but his messages quickly became unwanted sexual advances despite the fact he is a married father.

Mr Holdcroft said she did not find the constable attractive and did not encourage him, a claim refuted by the officer who said the exchanges were mutual. PC Nicholls denies allegations that his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

Mr Holdcroft said: “She was not interested and felt uncomfortable with his advances. Ms B had told the officer about her past abusive relationship and its impact on her very early on in their interaction.

“Despite that he continued to send suggestive messages. He demonstrated no real concern.

“The officer found Ms B on Instagram. He sent more explicit messages through that platform.

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“The officer would react instantly to anything that Ms B posted on social media. Ms B felt like he was almost monitoring her profile.

“He frequently sent flame emojis in response to her photos. This made her feel violated and dirty.”

Mr Holdcroft said a mutual friend told her that PC Nicolls was married. He said: “She then confronted the officer and asked why he would message her in such a manner.

“He dismissed the challenge and just replied, ‘So what?’. Ms B told him she would never be interested in a married man.

“Despite this the officer persisted.” The lawyer said the woman later tweeted about struggling to control her dog, so the officer suggested he could come to her house to offer advice.

He said that she accepted his offer as a genuine one and arranged for him to visit, which he did a few days later. Mr Holdcroft said: “The conversation was focused on the dog but the officer’s presence and the way that he looked at her made her feel uncomfortable.

“Later that day the officer resumed sending Ms B inappropriate messages. His messages returned to their previous explicit nature, including graphic descriptions of what he wanted to do to her.

“The officer’s behaviour made Ms B feel frightened and confused. She worried that he might be stalking her.”

PC Nicholls transferred from Gwent Police to Avon & Somerset in late 2022 and the messages became “even worse, bordering on pornographic”. Ms B eventually told a domestic abuse support group meeting about it and a police worker attending the meeting spoke to her about it afterwards, which prompted an investigation.

In his written response to the allegations, PC Nicholls denied Ms B had ever disclosed she was a survivor of domestic violence and that their conversations were “mutually flirtatious”. He said he stopped messaging her when she asked him to.

The officer said Ms B had always made it clear that she wanted to have sex with him. He said in his misconduct interview that she had “encouraged” him but that he considered the situation a “fantasy”.

In her statement to police, the woman said the pair had arranged for him to visit her house to give advice on controlling the dog but that once he arrived she regretted inviting him. But giving evidence in person on Monday, Ms B said she could not remember inviting him and insisted she would not have done that because of how uncomfortable he made her.

She told the panel: “Having that man in my house would be absolutely horrendous for me because I was feeling very threatened by him and unsafe because he continued to message me when I asked him to stop. PC Nicholls was constantly asking to come to my house and have intercourse with me.

“They were the most disgusting, degrading messages I’ve ever had in my life.” She denied accusations by barrister Julian King, representing the officer, that her allegations were false.

Ms B said: “I never sent explicit messages. I was so upset with the messages from PC Nicholls.”

Mr King said: “The messages were entirely two-way in becoming sexual and flirty.” Ms B replied: “No, that’s totally incorrect.”

She said PC Nicholls “wouldn’t take no for an answer”. Ms B said: “When you’re a victim of domestic abuse, and I was coming out of a very deep and dark hole, I couldn’t understand why this man who was married and who’s supposed to serve and protect the public was constantly abusing and harassing me constantly.”

Both of them deleted all their social media messages between each other after an investigation was launched and the panel has no tweets or Instagram exchanges as part of the evidence. Ms B told the hearing that she did that because she did not want to be reminded of them and that a child used her phone to play games and didn’t want them to see them either.

Legally Qualified Chair of the panel Nick Hawkins refused an application at the start of the hearing by Mr King to grant the officer anonymity. The panel also rejected an application by the barrister to throw out the case after Ms B’s testimony.

Mr King called her testimony inconsistent and unreliable and that it showed there was no case to answer. The hearing continues.

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