A boozed-up trainee police officer kicked a bouncer before hitting him in the head after being thrown out of a bar.
Former Durham Police officer Deryn Ling attacked a doorman after being ejected from Louis Bar, at Catterick Garrison, after she complained when a friend was asked to leave.
The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday, September 13, last year, after a night of drinking.
A police misconduct hearing was told once outside, Ms Ling attempted to regain entry and struck the bouncer in the head after kicking him in the shin.
Police were called and Ms Ling, who had earlier made it known in conversation that she was a serving officer at the time, was lapsing in and out of consciousness.
An ambulance was called and she received medical attention.
CCTV footage of the incident was reviewed and the 23-year-old was arrested.
The misconduct hearing, at Peterlee Police Station, was told when she was interviewed, she accepted the behaviour and apologised.
She also later sent signed letters of apology to both the doorman, who escaped without injuries, other than soreness and reddening of the shin, and to Durham Police Federation, to submit on her behalf as part of the misconduct procedure.
Ms Ling resigned from the force on March 15, little more than a fortnight before today’s (Wednesday April 1) misconduct hearing, which she chose not to attend.
Ben Sayers, for the appropriate authority, which brought the misconduct proceedings, said in the aftermath of the incident she admitted the assault and was offered a ‘community resolution’ which she accepted as an alternative to being prosecuted.
He recommended a finding that her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, had Ms Ling still been a police officer.
Mr Sayers said: “It was a violent outburst by a serving officer with potential to undermine trust in the police.”
He said she made admissions and agreed her behaviour was “totally unacceptable”, expressing remorse.
But he told the hearing that police officers were subject to professional standards even when off-duty and her conduct was a breach of those standards.
Durham’s Chief Constable, Rachel Bacon, who presided over the hearing, found the allegations proven.
She agreed with Mr Sayer’s suggestion that the former officer’s behaviour was “discreditable” and said she had no hesitation in finding it amounted to a case of, “gross misconduct”.
In conclusion, she said had the former officer still been serving, “nothing less than dismissal could be justified.”
She said in the absence of any exceptional circumstances the outcome was dismissal without notice and Ms Ling’s name will be submitted to the barring authority following the hearing, preventing her from serving with the police in future.
The Chief Constable added that given the impact on “trust and confidence” in the police in the community, there is an expectation over professional standards of behaviour by officers, both on and off duty.
A Durham Police spokesperson confirmed that Ms Ling, from the Cleveland area, joined the force in April 2025 and was initially based at the training centre at Meadowfield, near Durham, until August last year, about a month before the incident, when she transferred to work with the Bishop Auckland response team.
Source – Northern Echo
