Newly promoted Hampshire police officer sacked after drunken outburst against paramedics in Portsmouth

PC Dominic Godbold was found lying next to a puddle of his own vomit in a city street by the two ambulance workers.

But when they tried to help the off-duty officer, he became 'aggressive' and verbally abused them before leaving them 'very frightened' inside their ambulance as he banged on its doors.

Godbold had been out having a celebratory meal and drinks with his partner and a relative to mark his promotion from PCSO.

But his career as a constable was short-lived as the officer has now been dismissed from Hampshire Constabulary for his outburst.

A Hampshire Constabulary Misconduct Hearing was told Godbold subjected the paramedics to the nasty outburst in the early hours of December 10, 2020, in Angle sea Road, Portsmouth.

Godbold, based in Aldershot, hurled 'personal' insults at them, then became 'physical', prompting the paramedics to call the police.

The officer was arrested, taken to a custody centre and interviewed, then in January this year accepted a conditional caution for the public order offence.

Barrister Stephen Morley, who prosecuted on behalf of the Professional Standards Department, said: ‘This is a very serious case.

‘In the early hours of the morning he was drunk and behaving in a disorderly manner.

‘He's a police officer and was behaving in the sort of way that response officers warily deal with day in, day out.

‘The two female ambulance technicians were just doing their job when they found PC Godbold on the floor with a puddle of vomit next to him and went to help him.

‘He was aggressive and abusive towards them and PC Godbold became personal in his abuse, calling them names.

‘It became physical and he tried to pull open the ambulance door while they were inside. After, he was banging on the door and seen banging on the glass.

‘The ambulance technicians were both very frightened, they both wanted to get away, and as soon as they could get away from there they did.

‘[One of the paramedics] said she is used to a little bit of abuse but found this particularly difficult to deal with.’

Mr Morley said a member of the public would be ‘horrified’ by Godbold's behaviour.

‘Police officers who behave like that bring their career to an end, in my respectful conclusion,’ Mr Morley added.

It was heard Godbold admitted he was ‘difficult and obnoxious’.

In mitigation, barrister Chris Hopkins said Godbold was ‘seriously grieving’ the loss of his father and that the incident occurred close to the second anniversary of his death.

Mr Hopkins said: "He was deeply affected by the loss of his father... He never fully come to terms with the death, he tried to bottle it up and carry on with work.

‘His father was someone who had a huge influence on his life and was his best mate.’

Mr Hopkins said on the night of the incident Godbold succumbed to a ‘melting pot of emotion’, with alcohol making the situation worse.

‘There was a much greater level of alcohol than he's ever drunk before,’ he said.

He added: ‘Police officers are human beings, they lose family members and they have crises as well.

‘He fully accepts it was wrong for someone who has done the job on the streets of Aldershot to then be the one dishing it out.’

Godbold fully admits his behaviour, is 'extremely remorseful', has written apology letters to the paramedics, and has received counselling to help deal with his grief, it was heard.

Godbold said: ‘I've cut down my consumption of alcohol, not just on nights out but across the board.’

But, Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary, Olivia Pinkney, dismissed Godbold due to the severity of his gross misconduct.

She said: ‘Ambulance personnel have a higher bar than most when it comes to abuse but they were so shocked they called the police and were even more shocked when they realised it was a police officer.

‘For the public to suffer at the hands of one of our officers, it dents us all. All other officers must know when we say we are officers on and off-duty, that we mean it.

‘I have no doubts that this was an aberration and he was under a range of stresses, but this behaviour fell so far short of what was to be expected that you [Godbold] are dismissed without notice.’

Godbold, wearing a blue suit and tie, kept a blank face as he was dismissed.