DRUNKEN DORSET PC, 38, SEXUALLY HARASSED YOUNG COLLEAGUE AND TRIED TO USE COP STATUS TO RE-ENTER VENUE
A Dorset Police constable has been dismissed without notice after drunkenly sexually harassing a junior colleague and attempting to use his position as a police officer to regain entry to a venue during an off-duty night out.PC Remi Damiani, 38, was attending a charity boxing event at the Bournemouth International Centre on 19 November 2022 with fellow student officers when he consumed large amounts of alcohol and became visibly intoxicated.
According to a misconduct panel chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Mark Callaghan, Damiani began acting inappropriately towards a 20-year-old female colleague.
While unsteady on his feet, he sniffed her neck and told her she smelt “f***ing amazing”, kissed her neck, rubbed her back, and touched her bottom.
The misconduct occurred in two separate incidents, one of which happened while they were alone.
The panel found that his behaviour was “disrespectful, inappropriate, unwanted, [and] sexual,” and that it breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in relation to Authority, Respect and Courtesy and Discreditable Conduct.
After leaving the venue, Damiani attempted to re-enter despite being drunk.
He told security he was a police officer in an effort to gain access, a move which the panel deemed “an abuse of his position”.
The panel rejected Damiani’s claim that he was not trying to leverage his status and found this too to be a breach of the Discreditable Conduct standard.
Although the panel concluded that Damiani’s actions were not predatory and occurred due to intoxication, it was noted that his behaviour “amounted to sexual impropriety and violence against women and girls,” in a context of national concern over misconduct in policing.
Chair ACC Callaghan, Legally Qualified Person Mr Laith Dilaimi, and independent panel members John Evans and Sarah Elliott concluded that Damiani’s continued employment would undermine public confidence and the trust of colleagues.
The misconduct was deemed serious enough to warrant dismissal without notice.
The panel observed: “Police officers are not above the law and are held to a high standard.
The continued presence within the Force of an officer who had been found to have committed this gross misconduct would not be conducive to maintaining public confidence.” Despite character references and some mitigation—including the timing coinciding with the anniversary of Damiani’s father’s death—the panel found that dismissal was the only appropriate outcome.
Damiani, who joined Dorset Police in June 2022, had been a student officer for just five months at the time of the incident.
