Police officer punched man “twice in the face” for trying to dance with female colleagues, hearing told

A drunken off-duty police officer launched an “unprovoked” attack on a man who was trying to dance with three of his female colleagues in a Bristol bar, a misconduct hearing was told.

PC Jedd Perry was on a night out in the Green House with other Avon & Somerset Police officers in August 2021 when he became “angry” at seeing the unwanted advances, so he wandered over and punched the man twice in the face, the panel heard.

After being ejected from the venue, the fight spilled onto College Green in the city centre where one of the women, also a constable, tried to intervene but took a hard blow to the head apparently by accident as fists swung, said barrister George Thomas, representing the force.

PC Perry then “made himself scarce” and fled the scene, refusing to return to speak to attending officers, it was alleged on day one of an Avon & Somerset Police misconduct hearing at constabulary headquarters in Portishead, yesterday (November 1).

He is also accused on another occasion earlier that month of making a discriminatory comment to a female colleague of Romanian heritage, to “go back to your own country” or similar words.

PC Perry admits two counts of misconduct but denies either amounts to gross misconduct.

The officer insists he was justified in using force in the bar because the man was “assaulting” his colleague by touching her lower back, a claim Mr Thomas said was not supported by CCTV footage or the female constable’s statement.

Mr Thomas said: “It was an entirely unprovoked and unjustified attack.

“PC Perry says he honestly believed an off-duty colleague was being assaulted by the man and that he wasn’t aware police officers wanted to speak to him at the scene.

“However, he was motivated by anger and not a desire to defend her or a genuine belief he had to go to her assistance.”

Mr Thomas said the officer’s use of force was excessive and that the man who tried to dance with and talk to the female officers was nothing worse than a “nuisance” and a “pest” on a night out who the women were trying to ignore.

“The general principle is that unwanted touching is an assault, but in a late-night drinking establishment, touching someone’s elbow or tapping their shoulder would not be an assault because you go to a bar with implicit consent for that kind of conversational body contact,” he said.

“If every interaction like that resulted in flying fists, Bristol would be like the Wild West in a spaghetti western.”

He said several of PC Perry’s colleagues who were in the pub had stated that the attack was “unprovoked” and described him as very drunk that night.

PC Perry, who is based in Bristol, says the alleged discriminatory comment to a Romanian colleague was an ill-judged attempt at humour and that he was referring to an Uber journey his colleague was taking “home” from his flat, saying it was a long trip to Romania, and that he apologised to her the next day, the panel heard.

His barrister Sarah Barlow said the officer denied using the term “go back to your own country” or a racist phrase of that nature.

Mr Thomas told the hearing that the words were “insulting”, no matter how they were intended, and that they had a “significant impact” on his colleagues.

The hearing continues on Wednesday (November 2).

PC Perry, who is currently suspended from duty, is accused of breaching the standards of professional behaviour for police officers in terms of honesty and integrity; authority, respect and courtesy; equality and diversity; discreditable conduct; and duties and responsibilities.