Lincolnshire Police officer smacked colleague’s bottom in Louth pub, misconduct hearing told

A Lincolnshire Police[1] inspector smacked the bottom of a female colleague in a pub, the first day of a misconduct hearing has been told. Adam Syred faces 14 allegations of inappropriate physical contact with female colleagues and making sexual or personal remarks to both staff and members of the public. The officer attended the first day of a misconduct hearing at Skegness[2] Police Station on Monday, November 27.

He faces allegations of violating professional behaviour standards with incidents reportedly occurring on multiple occasions since October 2019. Ian Mullarkey, representing Lincolnshire Police, detailed an incident from October 2019 of a work night out at the Joseph Morton Wetherspoons in Louth[3]. He said Mr Syred introduced himself to colleagues as the new inspector for the area.

Get the latest Lincolnshire Live news with our email newsletters[4] It is alleged that on the same night, he smacked the bottom of a police constable who was also attending, but Mr Syred maintains he has no recollection of this incident. The police constable involved in the incident recounted the event in her testimony, stating: "It certainly wasn't welcome or wanted," recalling that afterwards, Inspector Syred seemed to be laughing with his wife.

She added: "It shocked me. I don't know why anybody would think I would welcome that." The officer did not formally report the incident when it occurred but has expressed regret for not having done so. Another incident was reported to have occurred around Christmas 2019, with Mr Syred placing tubes of sweets for his team in a large Santa sack.

When distributing the gifts, he approached the same police constable who was sat down, and allegedly said, at groin level: "Would you like a rummage through my sack?" The constable said: "It annoyed me, I didn't think it was appropriate." She insisted that Inspector Syred's actions were an attempt to elicit a reaction from her, noting that he did not behave similarly with any male staff members present at the time. Mr Syred acknowledged bringing in sweets for the team but denied that the comment was made in a sexual manner.

A third incident, recalled by the constable, occurred at a later date at Louth Police Station. She was on a break when Inspector Syred, whose office was adjacent, entered and allegedly turned on the Channel 4 programme Naked Attraction. She recounted: "He made a comment about how much he liked the programme and wanted to start a conversation about it."

The constable described another incident during lockdown. She reported that Inspector Syred began demonstrating home exercises for a colleague who was homeschooling his children, while she was present in the breakroom. According to her account, he started performing lunges and squats in her direction, dressed in shorts and running gear.

Inspector Syred, however, does not recall this behaviour. Finally, the constable recalled a time when she briefly fell asleep in the same room. She reportedly awoke to find Inspector Syred telling her that he had taken a photo of her while she was asleep, stating it was "in case he needed it for later." The officer also denied taking such a photo.

She expressed her unease about the situation, stating: "I wasn't entirely sure how to interpret it. It made me very uncomfortable knowing that he had a photograph of me that had been taken without my consent." Steven Reed, representing Inspector Syred, contended that the constable's perception of the officer had been "coloured" by the incident at the Wetherspoons in Louth.

He also put forward that the individual who smacked her behind might not have been Inspector Syred, noting that she did not directly see who was responsible for the act.

The misconduct hearing is scheduled to continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, before being adjourned until January 3.

References

1. ^ Lincolnshire Police (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
2. ^ Skegness (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
3. ^ Louth (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
4. ^ Get the latest Lincolnshire Live news with our email newsletters (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)