A police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing after he was accused of behaving inappropriately with a student officer.

PC John Seaman, of Cleveland Police, was accused of making unwanted comments about photographs of the female officer before trying to kiss her when he pulled over in a layby after they met up off duty.

The officer, who was working as a temporary Detective Sergeant for the force at the time of the allegations, was also accused of making the officer feel uncomfortable when he gave her a hug on his last day on secondment to CID.

The officer was accused of making PC A "uncomfortable" on several occasions in August 2022 and was accused of taking her to a secluded layby where he tried to kiss her.

Following a disciplinary hearing, the officer has been cleared of 'inappropriate behaviour' after an independent panel concluded that there were inconsistencies in both party’s version of events and the force failed to prove the officer had acted inappropriately.

The panel did however consider that the officer might have attempted to kiss PC A, who cannot be named for legal reasons, but is not satisfied, even on a balance of probabilities that he actually attempted to do so.

Its ruling, which was published on the force website, read: “She (PC A) contends that the officer said there is something I need to do before going to kiss her. There is no room for a misunderstanding about this event. It either occurred or it did not occur.

“There are some matters which cast doubt on the event happening. These include the fact that PC A initially said in her interview that he kissed her before explaining that in fact he attempted to kiss her.

“She also went off for lunch with him afterwards and they shared a hug when they parted company, which could be considered an unusual response to an unwanted attempted kiss but could also just be her personal response to the situation.”

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The report continued: “There is no obvious motive for PC A to make up the fact that he tried to kiss her. It is consistent with the officer meeting PC A some distance from where they lived and having driven her to a relatively secluded area against the background that she made comments which suggested she was interested in him.

“He did not tell his wife they were meeting or had met. After this incident, he does not contact PC A again despite suggesting that he was waiting to hear from her about her wanting to (this section is redacted).

“This lack of contact is consistent with him having been rebuffed by PC A. It was certainly very unwise of the officer to meet PC A even on the basis of the circumstances he suggests. She had on his evidence made comments which suggested she fancied him. He met her without informing anyone.”

The report concluded: “In the circumstances the panel finds that none of these allegations have been proved against the officer and the allegations are dismissed.”