Merseyside Police Officers Face Misconduct Hearing Over Nitrous Oxide Allegations

A misconduct hearing is scheduled for three Merseyside Police officers, who are accused of “spraying colleagues with nitrous oxide”. Former Sgt Andrew Ditchfield, former PC Callum Smith, and serving PC James Taafe are accused of gross misconduct. A notice from the force’s Professional Standards Department indicates that their alleged conduct resulted in a female colleague becoming “stressed and lose her hair”. Additionally, Mr Smith is subject to a distinct allegation concerning his viewing of a “sexualised video” with the intent to “taunt a member of the public”. Concurrently, Mr Ditchfield faces an accusation of “viewing footage and laughing at the misfortune of a colleague”. The aforementioned notice specifies that “in spraying their colleagues with nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas) and soaking a colleague with water, they have abused their authority as a police officer and have failed to treat colleagues with any respect or courtesy”. Furthermore, there is an accusation that they treated a colleague differently due to her gender. The 10-day hearing, presided over by legally qualified chair David Tyme, is scheduled to commence on 24 February at Merseyside Police headquarters. Merseyside Police stated that it would not provide comment prior to the conclusion of the proceedings.