Two police officers based at Parkside police station in Cambridge dismissed for gross misconduct

Two Cambridgeshire police officers have been dismissed after misconduct hearings, one for giving misleading evidence in court and another for making racist and discriminatory comments.

PC Kayleigh Rocca, who was based at Parkside Police Station in Cambridge, was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity and discreditable conduct, amounting to gross misconduct.

The hearing found that she had misled a Crown court trial, which had contributed to the case being dismissed. It was accepted that she had not set out to mislead the court but had panicked and that this was her first Crown court trial. But the investigator concluded that “because of the importance of public confidence” in the police, the mitigation was limited.

The hearing, which was held at Bedfordshire headquarters on Friday (31 January), concluded that PC Rocca should be dismissed without notice.

Chief Constable Nick Dean said: “PC Rocca was in a position of responsibility, giving evidence as the officer in the case of a criminal trial before a Crown Court judge and jury, under oath. Her conduct jeopardised a criminal investigation into offending against a child.

“Honesty and integrity are fundamental requirements for any police officer and a lesser outcome would not serve to mark the seriousness of this misconduct.”

Meanwhile, PC Greg Langham, also based at Parkside, has been dismissed for gross misconduct after being found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of authority, respect and courtesy, equality and diversity, orders and instructions and discreditable conduct, amounting to gross misconduct.

The misconduct centred around discriminatory comments he had made on social media including those that “would be considered racist and discriminatory remarks and comments”. These included discriminatory remarks about gender, disability, race and religion. The posts and comments spanned a period of time from October 2023 to June 2024.

A hearing took place on 7 November and was chaired by the chief constable, who concluded he would be dismissed without notice. The officer will now be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.

Mr Dean said: “The comments made by PC Langham were unacceptable, simply offensive and have no part to play in policing. The police service and the public expect all officers and staff to act in a manner that does not bring discredit to the service or harms its reputation. They also expect that all officers act with the utmost professionalism and act with fairness and impartiality on and off duty.

“PC Langham was not an officer with limited experience and would have known that the actions he took would fall well below what is to be expected.”