Derbyshire police officer with “unblemished” 23 years service sacked after drinking 13 pints and assaulting colleague

PC Darren Mabbott appeared, tearfully at times, before an internal misconduct hearing at Derbyshire Constabulary headquarters chaired by Chief Constable Rachel Swann on Monday, July 24, having earlier in the year been found guilty of assaulting a colleague on a night out.

PC Robert Smith, the complainant, said he went into “self-preservation mode” during the assault last April. PC Mabbott admitted to having drunk ‘around 13 or 15 pints’ but said he was acting in self-defence.

Mabbott’s continued insistence that he was acting in self-defence saw Chief Constable Rachel Swann say she believed he was giving a “retrospective” account of events as she dismissed his argument.

The incident, on the night of April 29 / 30 last year, saw Mabbott and PC Smith among a group of officers out in Matlock to mark the completion of a dog handling course. Mabbott, who has worked in the police for 23 years, contested a charge of common assault but was found guilty following a two-day trial at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court this April.

CCTV of the incident in its entirety, which lasted less than a minute, was played to the misconduct hearing in which PC Smith can be seen stumbling into Monk Bar before placing his arm around PC Mabbott’s shoulder seconds later.

READ THIS: Derbyshire MP Lee Rowley gets £4k payout for quitting Government

READ THIS: Relapsed addict found with bank card after attempted burglary

The Chapel-en-le-Frith cop said he didn’t realise it was his colleague and, instinctively, shoved the arm away. A verbal altercation ensued with PC Smith “demanding” to know what had been said earlier in the night by a colleague following an incident in which Mabbott noticed “raised voices and shouting” between PC Smith and, a third officer, PC Collier at a different pub.

Mabbott told the panel that the complainant was “persistent” in wanting to know what was said - prompting him to get up from his chair and grab PC Smith’s head with two hands and push him backwards. The assault lasted a total of eight seconds before Mabbott then went outside and spoke to a security guard for around half a minute before getting into a taxi.

PC Smith said he didn’t retaliate because he was aware of Mabbott’s mixed martial arts background - Mabbott being a triple black-belt. No injuries were sustained by the complainant.

It was put to Mabbott, by the presiding solicitor, that he had ‘lost his temper’, was ‘out of control’, and that his actions were ‘unreasonable’.

The panel was told he had sent PC Smith an apology via WhatsApp the day after the incident but David Ring, presiding solicitor, argued that Mabbott was “irritated”. He added: “Isn’t it the case that the only reason you’re saying sorry is because you were found guilty? You’re not really sorry at all.”

It was further argued that the cop was “retrofitting” the CCTV footage to “suit (his) account of the night”. This sentiment was echoed by the Chief Constable in her closing remarks.

During his 23 years with the police, Mabbott has worked for both the Met and Derbyshire Constabulary: as an armed forces officer, dog handler, and trainer among other capacities.

The misconduct panel received numerous personal and character references and heard that the officer was “highly regarded” for his decision-making under pressure as well as his care and compassion.

At the time of the incident Mabbott was helping to care for an elderly relative with cancer and said he was going through an ‘extremely stressful’ period outside of work.

Tony Wetton, chair of Derbyshire Police Federation, told the hearing he believed Mabbott was “exactly the sort of person the force should be keeping” and, making reference to the volume of support received from Mabbott’s colleagues, remarked: “In my time of my need I can only hope for the level of support that PC Mabbott has received”

Issuing a personal plea to Chief Constable Rachel Swann, PC Mabbott said: “During my career I have achieved many things but also collected a lot of baggage - as we all have. I do not want this to define me as Mr Mabbott or PC Mabbott but, by us being here, I understand that it likely will.

“I have truly learned from this. I was under immense personal stress at home. I took action to show my remorse and apologised the next day.

“My sincere hope is that you allow me to keep my job which has been fundamental to who I am as a person the last 23 years.

“I guarantee and sincerely promise nothing like this will ever happen again. I have 10 years left to serve you and the people of Derbyshire.

“I pray you give me a second chance.”

But the chief constable dismissed his claims he was acting in self-defence and, in coming to her conclusion, said his lack of ‘genuine insight’ into the extent of his actions meant she felt unable to simply issue a final written warning.

She said: “(PC Smith) may have been a pain in the neck but what (PC Mabbott) did was unreasonable.

“Members of the public would find his loss of control to be of concern.”

“I am sure that the officer did not go out intending to criminally assault a colleague. He significantly lost his self control. This is not a minor lapse but a significant loss of temper. He has not shown insight or genuine remorse.

"I cannot retain the officer simply because he is undoubtedly good at his job and may be difficult to replace.

"The only outcome I feel I can serve is dismissal without notice."

The chief constable said not dismissing the cop would give rise to the impression that violence between colleagues was acceptable. PC Mabbott is entitled to appeal the outcome.