Former BTP officer would have been dismissed from the force - London

A former British Transport Police (BTP) officer who resigned from the Force, has been formally dismissed following a public misconduct hearing.

The hearing took place at Force Headquarters in London between 9 and 17 January 2023. Former TPS Connor Phillips, based in London, answered allegations that he breached the standards of professional behaviour, but did not attend the misconduct hearing. He resigned from the force in March 2022.

The hearing heard that:

• Around October 2020, Connor Phillips created false and anonymous social media accounts to send inappropriate, upsetting and derogatory messages to an officer and her friends.
• Between August 2020 and November 2020, he made inappropriate comments about the officer to other colleagues, referring to her as “my b****.”
• On 18 March 2021 he sent the officer an anonymous text claiming to be concerned about her ex-boyfriend.
• On 25 May 2021 he sent the officer another anonymous text saying “meet up?”
• Around 5 July 2021, without her permission, Connor Phillips removed the officers body worn video from the police post for a week and then replaced it. 
• Connor Phillips admitted filing an anonymous report with BTP’s Professional Standards Department on 29 July 2021 which falsely claimed the officer made derogatory comments about another officer. 
• Around 14 June 2021 he also impersonated being a member of the public to lodge a false complaint against a second officer, using BTP’s public facing online complaint system.

The independent panel took the view that his actions were driven by misogyny and amounted to sexual harassment. They concluded this amounted to gross misconduct, and he would have been dismissed had he still been a serving officer.

Detective Superintendent Peter Fulton, Head of BTP’s Professional Standards Department, said: “Premeditated misogynistic behaviour of this kind by an officer is gravely worrying, and this outcome sends a clear message that it simply will not be tolerated within BTP. Connor Phillips launched a devious, systematic and highly planned attack against another officer which has understandably caused her and those close to her significant distress and concern over a long period of time. I would like to commend her courage in coming forward which enabled us to launch a lengthy and complex investigation into his abhorrent activity – Connor Phillips is not fit to be a police officer and he won’t be ever again. I fully support the decision of the panel to dismiss him with immediate effect.”