Serving BTP officer dismissed without notice - Yorkshire

A serving British Transport Police officer has been formally dismissed without notice, following an accelerated misconduct hearing.

Police Sergeant Mark Burgess, based in Hull, did not attend the hearing which was held at Force Headquarters from 25 – 28 July.

He was dismissed with immediate effect by the Chief Constable.

The first allegation was that between June 2021 and January 2022 he breached the standards of professional behaviour by sending inappropriate WhatsApp messages to female officers under his supervision which were sexual in nature.

The second allegation was that while he was under investigation for sending inappropriate messages, he breached the instruction he was given not to contact the female officers and continued to send messages to one of them, as well as leave gifts in her tray.

The Chief Constable found that the first allegation wasn’t proven as gross misconduct, but the second allegation was proven and amounted to gross misconduct. She dismissed him with immediate effect.

Deputy Chief Constable Alistair Sutherland said: “Sergeant Burgess chose to disobey an important order while he was already under investigation for misconduct. He continued to have unauthorised contact with a female officer, undermining the entire disciplinary process as a trusted supervisor.   

“Trust and integrity are at the very heart of policing and if an officer cannot be trusted to follow orders they are given as a fundamental standard then there is no place for them in BTP. Sergeant Burgess has therefor been dismissed with immediate effect.”