Police leader guilty of gross misconduct over sexual comment to widow

The panel cleared Mr Apter of a second allegation that he said in early 2019 to a pregnant Police Federation colleague: “Maybe you’ll get a bum now.”And the panel also cleared him of an allegation that he had touched the bottom of a woman, referred to as Female A, at a restaurant while visiting London for the National Police Bravery Awards in December 2021 before asking her: “Is that okay?”He denied the three allegations, which followed an investigation ordered by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and told the tribunal that he “absolutely” had not made the comments.He said he had only “scratched” the woman’s upper back, and added that he found the claims “deeply hurtful”.Mr Apter has previously spoken out against the use of sexist nicknames as part of a canteen culture in the police in 2021, after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer.He told the hearing that he had “challenged” inappropriate behaviour by police officers and stood by his public comments about…