Former officer would have been dismissed – London

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

Former PC Tay Docherty, based in London, attend the hearing, which was held in London from 20 to 24 April.

He was due to answer allegations that he breached the standards of professional behaviour.

The allegations were all proven by the Independent Panel. These were that:

• In 2023, former PC Docherty made dishonest allegations of criminal conduct against another man, Mr A. These were investigated and no further action was taken against Mr A.
• Former PC Docherty engaged in a course of unwanted conduct against Mr A,  which had the effect of violating his dignity and creating an intimidating, degrading, or humiliating environment for Mr A.
• He demonstrated a failure to act with self-control and respect towards him, by subjecting him to unwanted contact, making him feel uncomfortable, and/or making him feel scared.

The Independent Panel found former PC Docherty’s actions amounted to gross misconduct and, had he not resigned, he would have been dismissed from the force with immediate effect.

The full report is available here.

Detective Superintendent Brett Walker, Head of BTP’s Professional Standards, said: “Former PC Docherty engaged in a course of unwanted and inappropriate conduct towards another person, which culminated in him deliberately making false criminal allegations against this person.

“His conduct was dishonest, intimidating, and wholly incompatible with being a police officer – whilst being severely undermining to public confidence. The Independent Panel was clear that his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and I support the decision to dismiss him with immediate effect had he been a serving officer.”