A POLICE officer has been sacked after farting in her station and repeatedly using the C-word on duty.

Detective Constable Claire Fitzpatrick, 44, swore on duty and asked a junior officer if he wanted an affair with a "fatter, ugly, older woman".

Claire Fitzpatrick was accused of 25 counts of unprofessional behaviour between summer and December 2017 in Bedwas police station Credit: Wales News Service

She admitted using foul language - but said it was part of "a culture of banter" at the station.

Fitzpatrick was hauled to a disciplinary hearing where she admitted breaking wind outside the sergeant's office but said: "It wasn't deliberately".

The mother-of-two, who was working as a temporary sergeant, said: "I would joke about it.

"Sometimes I would speak like the character Borat, or use a silly voice to say: ‘Rather out than in’."

Detective Constable Claire Fitzpatrick, 44, was accused of 25 counts of unprofessional behaviour between summer and December 2017 in Bedwas police station in Caerphilly.

She has now been dismissed from the force where she had worked for 22 years.

Fitzpatrick told the panel that the C-word "had replaced the F-word as the swear word of choice."

The hearing in Cwmbran, South Wales, heard Fitzpatrick once arrested a motorist telling him: "You're driving like a c***."

She said: "The officer with me said: ‘Sergeant, you can’t say that to him."

"I took a deep breath with my head in my hands, and said I’m sorry to the driver."

Fitzpatrick also asked another woman officer if she "had any cream for thrush" while inside the packed police station.



'UNIQUE SENSE OF HUMOUR'

Nick Gedge, representing DC Fitzpatrick, said the detective had never faced misconduct allegations before.

"She would often make herself the butt of the jokes to jolly along an atmosphere as it were."

The hearing was told DC Fitzpatrick's team was understaffed and could be seen as a "difficult shift" to manage.

Colleagues described her as having a "unique sense of humour" and being "crude with her comments."

In one email from a colleague she was told to "apply the filter occasionally."

DC Fitzpatrick admitted using bad language but denied saying it in a demeaning way.

"When you read these allegations you hang your head in embarrassment and shame.

"You read that and you almost gasp and go: 'Who is this individual.'

"Having hit this position that I'm in has made me realise how much I need to change. How much I need to be a better person."

She was dismissed after a hearing of the Gwent Police discipinary panel who will give their formal reasons for his sacking later.

Fitzpatrick said she felt embarrassment when hearing the allegations Credit: Wales News Service

The tribunal heard Fitzpatrick would fart on duty and regularly use the c-word Credit: Wales News Service

Fitzpatrick asked a junior colleague if he wanted an affair with a 'fatter, ugly, older woman' Credit: Wales News Service

The dismissed officer worked at Bedwas Police station in Caerphilly Credit: Wales News Service

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