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Former Lincolnshire Police officer who assaulted taxi driver found guilty of gross misconduct

A former Lincolnshire Police officer has been found guilty of gross misconduct after being convicted for the assault of a taxi driver.

On Monday, September 25, at Nottingham Crown Court, former PC James Froggatt admitted to assaulting a taxi driver while outside Lincoln railway station following an alleged dispute over the cab being fully booked.

After being convicted of common assault, Froggatt was ordered to pay a fine, along with associated costs, compensation, and a victim surcharge. He subsequently resigned from Lincolnshire Police on Friday, December 1.

Initially, Froggatt was also accused of racially aggravated assault, but this was later dropped.

During an accelerated misconduct hearing at Grantham Police Station on Friday, the former constable was notably absent. However, Callum Scott, representing him, emphasised that the assault was not racially motivated.

Representatives from the force argued that Froggatt's actions not only violated professional behaviour standards but also represented a "fundamental breach" of the public's trust in the police.

Liz Briggs, for Lincolnshire Police, stated: "The officer has been convicted of a criminal offence. It's right that officers are responsible for enforcing the law, which means that it's unacceptable for them to break the law themselves."

She continued: "We would concede that it doesn't seem to be targeted or planned behaviour, but the officer could have reasonably foreseen the risk of harm by behaving in this way.

"We would say that the only outcome in respect of this matter, given the serious nature of this misconduct, would be that the officer should have been dismissed had he not already resigned."

After deliberating on the findings, Chief Constable Chris Haward concluded that former PC James Froggatt would have faced dismissal if he had not already resigned from Lincolnshire Police.

"The standards of professional behaviour have been breached and I do believe these are significant enough to amount to gross misconduct," said Haward.

"The outcome is that former Police Constable Frogatt would have been dismissed if he had ceased to be a member of Lincolnshire Police.

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