A former Gwent Police officer would have been dismissed without notice after five allegations of gross misconduct were found as proven, a disciplinary panel has ruled.
Sean Llewellyn sent a sexualised image of himself in his uniform to a member of the public and accessed police databases to check up on people linked to a property. Llewellyn resigned from Gwent Police before the hearing started and was dismissed in his absence at the conclusion of the two-day hearing held in Cwmbran.
Investigation findings
The hearing was told that an investigation led by Gwent's professional standards department found that Llewellyn had breached the professional standards of behaviour on several dates in 2021. This involved sending a sexualised image to a member of the public while wearing his uniform and under a fake name, and accessing police computer systems without a policing purpose to look up details of addresses and individuals linked to two properties in Ebbw Vale.
The panel found all five allegations proven and that he breached the standards of confidentiality and discreditable conduct. The panel ruled that had Llewellyn not already resigned, he would have been dismissed without notice.
Force response
Speaking after the hearing, Gwent Police assistant chief constable Vicki Townsend, who chaired the panel, said: "The behaviour of this former officer was totally unacceptable; neither we nor the public accept such conduct from police officers whether on or off duty.
"By sending unsolicited and unwanted images of himself in his uniform, this former officer caused a great deal of harm to the woman who received these inappropriate photos.
"I would like to state my appreciation to her for having the courage to come forward and make this report so that we could take this action against this individual whose behaviour undermines the public’s trust in policing.
"We expect all our officers to recognise the importance of data integrity and security, and this former officer has shown a complete lack of professionalism with these significant breaches.
"We will continue to take robust action, as the public rightfully expects of us, against any officer or staff member who falls short of our standards of integrity and accountability."
Llewellyn did not attend the hearing and he will shortly be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.
