A FORMER Gwent Police officer bit colleagues while off-duty and slapped a stranger in the face during two nights out.

A disciplinary panel in Cwmbran yesterday found all charges against Joshua Cavill proven, agreeing that his actions amounted to gross misconduct.

The panel was told Cavill bit two of his police colleagues on the arm while they were all off-duty on a night out at the Brewhouse pub in Cardiff, shortly before Christmas in 2018.

Then, in the Live Lounge in Cardiff on March 6 last year, Cavill twice bit another colleague's ear, before slapping a member of the public in the face while on the dancefloor.

Cavill was detained by bouncers but then tried to run away from the South Wales Police officers who arrived at the scene. He was caught and arrested, but struggled with officers and claimed he had a handgun.

Cavill resigned from the police in June last year, but the misconduct panel decided he would have lost his job if he had remained on the force.

They were told the former PC had "no recollections" of the events but had admitted slapping the man in Live Lounge and the events surrounding his arrest.

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Annalea Kift, representing Cavill, said he "accepts what happened, is ashamed of his behaviour and remorseful for his conduct" concerning the slap and his arrest.

But Ms Kift said Cavill had challenged the three allegations concerning his police colleagues. He maintained the alleged bites had been "playful" and "in jest" among a "group of friends".

None of the three alleged victims had made official complaints, he noted.

But Jonathan Walters, representing Gwent Police, said Cavill had offered no evidence to challenge the force's allegations, and had not turned up to cross-examine any witnesses.

The panel agreed with the facts as stated by Mr Walters and said Cavill had "behaved in a disgraceful manner" and "caused a high level of reputational harm to Gwent Police".

The panel was told Cavill had been working abroad since resigning from the police, and had not responded to invitations to attend his hearing.

Ms Kift said Cavill's "childhood dream" was to join the police, and he had "lost the job he loved".

He was now taking "positive steps in his private life," she added.

The panel agreed Cavill's actions on March 6, 2019 breached the standards of professional behaviour covering authority, respect, and courtesy; as well as discreditable conduct.

Cavill's action in Brewhouse in 2018 also breached the standard covering authority, respect, and courtesy, the panel decided.

The panel said Cavill's name should also be added to the barred list for police officers.