A police officer who called a domestic violence victim derogatory names and falsified information has been sacked following a misconduct hearing.

PC Neal Murray admitted branding the woman a ‘f****** idiot’ but denied falsifying evidence that she didn’t want to make a statement about the domestic incident in November 2020.

The Cleveland Police officer was charged with breaching the Standards of Professional Behaviour for officers on several occasions.

Following a gross misconduct hearing, the independent panel ruled the officer had lied to colleagues about his behaviour and conduct when he was confronted in January 2021.

PC Murray produced and updated a statement from Ms A on his electronic pocket notebook indicating that she did not want to pursue the matter, representing the statement as having been approved/signed by Ms A.

However, the panel ruled this was false.

They had heard how the officer told colleagues how he had forgotten to get the woman to sign the report and he then said “she’s a m***, a f****** idiot, so I signed it”.

The panel also found that the officer failed to carry out an adequate search for the vulnerable woman and ensure that she was safe after attending the incident.

During his evidence, the experienced officer apologised for his behaviour saying it was out of character.

He referred to family problems and the impact of stress, being overworked and being sleep deprived, at the time of the offences.

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Shamaila Qureshi, the independent chair of the disciplinary panel, the officer's actions brought discredit to the police service and amounted in gross misconduct.

She said: “The Panel came to the conclusion that an appropriate and proportionate sanction having found gross misconduct is dismissal.

“The officer’s behaviour did cause harm to public confidence in the profession of policing and there was operational dishonesty. The Panel was satisfied that the misconduct was so serious that only an outcome that the Officer is dismissed without notice was justified.”

The former officer was also placed on the College of Policing’s barred list preventing him for working for every force across the country.