AT LEAST one of the senior Gwent Police officers who were sacked in September following a gross misconduct hearing is appealing his dismissal.

Chief superintendent Marc Budden, chief superintendent Mark Warrender and chief inspector Paul Staniforth faced allegations dating back to June 2019 and an alleged incident at former Gwent Police chief constable Julian Williams’ retirement party.

All three men were accused of having an “inappropriate conversation” with a more junior member of police staff, while chief superintendent Warrender was accused of “inappropriate touching”.

They all denied the charges, but following the behind-closed-doors hearing, a misconduct panel found seven of the nine allegations were proven.

This meant the two serving officers – chief superintendent Budden and chief inspector Staniforth – were sacked, and all three were added to the barred officers list. 

Former chief superintendent Warrender retired before the outcome of the hearing, but had he not, he was told he would also have been dismissed.

Now however, the office for the police and crime commissioner for Gwent has confirmed that there has been an appeal against the panel’s decision.

It has not been confirmed how many of the former officers are appealing the decision.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner said: “I can confirm that there has been an appeal and it has been referred to the Police Appeals Tribunal in accordance with the Police Appeal Tribunal Rules.”

The spokesperson added there would be no further comment as the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner “has a legal, procedural and administrative role in this process”.

The original hearing excluded the press and public, which the panel said was because the hearing involved allegations of a sexual offence and to protect the rights of witnesses.

Just this week, following a Sunday Times investigation, claims of misogyny, racism, homophobia and corruption were levelled at Gwent Police, after the family of an officer who took his own life in 2020 shared Whatsapp and Facebook exchanges between both serving and retired officers with the paper.

The force is now being investigated by Wiltshire Police.

And a serving officer will face a disciplinary hearing next week for allegedly having “inappropriate and unprofessional text conversations” with three female members of the public.