A POLICE officer who encouraged a woman to flash her breasts and then got other officers to take photos of him putting handcuffs on her during a Valley Fiesta has successfully appealed against a substantial pay cut.

Constable Travis Garth's actions were also downgraded from "misconduct" to "breach of discipline" in the Queensland Civil and Administrate Tribunal as part of the reprimand for accepting an invitation to see a woman's "boob job" while on duty in 2010.

Constable Garth also allowed the woman to wear a police cap in the photos and didn't delete them as ordered by his boss, according to documents lodged in QCAT.

"I find that you participated in a number of photographs being taken with a semi-naked female member of the public and that you were wearing a police uniform, used police-issue handcuffs in an inappropriate manner by posing with the handcuffs to give the appearance she was under arrest," Assistant Commissioner Tony Wright said in his disciplinary decision.

"These photographs were stored on your mobile phone and on that of (a colleague's) mobile telephone.

"I find that you showed other police officers the photograph of you standing next to a semi-naked woman exposing her breasts and . . . said you 'just had the best night ever'."

Mr Wright said in the disciplinary hearing report that "when applying the appropriate standard of proof, the only finding that I can make is misconduct".

However, QCAT senior member Richard Oliver, who made the ruling, said there needed to be "some nexus or some factor which raises that conduct to another level or 'puts it over the line' so far as the reasonable expectations of the public are concerned.

"The use of handcuffs and the police cap certainly makes the conduct more serious but not sufficient to warrant a classification of 'misconduct', when it seems from the evidence, the female involved was a willing participant and encouraged the behaviour. However, clearly the applicant should have exercised restraint," he said in his ruling.

Mr Oliver also reduced the penalty of docking his pay from three pay points to one.

"I would not vary the sanction imposed by the Assistant Commissioner except that the applicant was on the cusp of promotion to Senior Constable ... this was to occur within a month of the sanction being imposed," he said.

Constable Garth said in his QCAT submission that he received a pay cut of about $55,000 over four years, not including superannuation, overtime or allowances.

He argued the penalty was "grossly excessive" and that his peers and supervisors agreed the incident was "out of character".

"I am married with two children and am supporting my family almost on one wage," he said in the QCAT submission.

"With the financial penalty that I will receive, I will not be able to continue my position within the QPS.

"I understand that I have caused embarrassment to the QPS and I am extremely remorseful for it. However, I ask for leniency due to my work history and my financial position."

Originally published as 'Boob photo' cop wins appeal