Charlotte Harper

Introduction

Charlotte Harper was a student police officer with Avon and Somerset Police, based in South Gloucestershire. On 17 September 2026 she was dismissed without notice and barred from policing after a panel found her conduct amounted to gross misconduct. The case concerned her participation in a WhatsApp group of almost 100 members in which, on the panel’s findings, she identified herself as a police officer, displayed a discreditable and derogatory attitude towards the profession of policing, and took part in disrespectful conversations about the organisation, her colleagues and a possible victim of domestic abuse. The outcome was announced by Avon and Somerset Police on the day the hearing concluded.

Background Information

Harper was a student police officer — the stage at which new officers begin their service while completing initial training — based in South Gloucestershire within Avon and Somerset Police. She had been suspended from duty since the allegations in the case came to light.

The allegations reached the force’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) on 23 July 2025. The referral was made by a member of police staff who, for a brief period, had been a member of the WhatsApp group at the centre of the case, and who left the group because of the concerning nature of the conversations taking place in it. The matter was subsequently listed for an accelerated misconduct hearing, held roughly fourteen months after the referral.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. At an accelerated misconduct hearing on 17 September 2026, a panel chaired by former Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden found that PC Charlotte Harper breached the standards of professional behaviour covering authority, respect and courtesy; confidentiality; and discreditable conduct, and that her conduct amounted to gross misconduct. This is an adjudicated professional finding, a matter of the police misconduct hearing record — it is not a criminal conviction, and no criminal charge against Harper is mentioned in available reporting. What remains allegation only is anything outside the panel’s published findings: the hearing record described here is the panel’s account of what it found proven, not a court’s judgment.

The accelerated misconduct hearing took place on Thursday 17 September 2026 at the force’s headquarters in Portishead. The panel heard that Harper had been an active member of a WhatsApp group with almost 100 members, in which she identified herself as a police officer and displayed a discreditable and derogatory attitude towards the profession of policing.

According to the hearing, Harper instigated and actively participated in disrespectful conversations about the organisation, her colleagues and a possible victim of domestic abuse. On one occasion, members of the group were discussing a drugs deal, and Harper stated she would ignore the suggestion of criminality.

The panel found Harper in breach of three standards of professional behaviour: authority, respect and courtesy; confidentiality; and discreditable conduct. It concluded that the breaches amounted to gross misconduct — the threshold at which dismissal without notice becomes available under police disciplinary arrangements.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The consequence of the finding was dismissal without notice and a bar from policing, ending Harper’s service with the force. A/Det Supt Will Thorpe, from the Professional Standards Department, said: “The views expressed and language used by PC Harper in these conversations were wholly unacceptable and in no way reflect the values of our organisation.”

Thorpe added: “Members of the public must be able to trust that police officers will carry out their duties fairly, professionally and with respect for those they serve. When officers behave in a way that risks damaging that trust, it is right that they are held accountable.”

He also said: “Professional standards apply whether officers are on duty, off duty, or communicating in private groups and we will continue to take action wherever conduct falls short of what is expected.” On the significance of the outcome, he said: “The findings in this case demonstrate that behaviour which brings policing into disrepute will not be tolerated. The overwhelming majority of our officers and staff serve the public with integrity every day, and they care deeply about the communities they serve and holding each other to account.”

Current Status

Harper was dismissed without notice on 17 September 2026 and is barred from policing. Avon and Somerset Police stated that the full outcome of the hearing would be added to the misconduct section of its website when it became available. Published reporting of the case mentions no criminal charge and no criminal proceedings against Harper; the matter was dealt with as police misconduct.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The dismissal and bar ended Harper’s policing career at the student-officer stage, before she had progressed beyond initial training within Avon and Somerset Police. She had already been suspended from duty since the allegations surfaced, meaning her last period of operational work predated the hearing by more than a year. A bar from policing is a disqualifying professional sanction, and the force framed the case as demonstrating that professional standards reach officers’ private communications, not only conduct on duty. Beyond the hearing outcome and Thorpe’s statement, no further consequences — personal, financial or otherwise — are recorded in published sources.