David Maggs

Introduction

David Maggs is a former police constable with Staffordshire Police who was dismissed without notice after a gross misconduct hearing found that he had sent unwanted and inappropriate messages to a colleague whilst off duty and touched a colleague in an unwanted and inappropriate manner. His case was the product of an investigation by the force’s own Anti-Corruption Unit, and his dismissal was reported by Lichfield Live on 19 July 2026. As well as losing his job, Maggs was placed on the College of Policing’s Barred List, which prevents him from working in policing and other law enforcement bodies again.

Background Information

Maggs served as a police constable with Staffordshire Police, the territorial force responsible for policing the county. The allegations that ended his career were investigated internally by the force’s Anti-Corruption Unit, the kind of specialist department police forces use to examine serious breaches of professional standards by their own officers and staff.

A gross misconduct hearing is the most serious internal disciplinary process available to a British police force. It is not a criminal court: a panel hears the evidence presented by the force and by the officer, decides the case on the civil standard — the balance of probabilities — rather than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt, and, if it finds gross misconduct, can impose sanctions up to and including dismissal without notice. Where an officer is dismissed from policing, their details are placed on the College of Policing’s Barred List.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings below are those of a Staffordshire Police gross misconduct panel on the civil standard (the balance of probabilities), not criminal convictions, and no criminal proceedings were reported.

An investigation by Staffordshire Police’s Anti-Corruption Unit found that Maggs sent “unwanted and inappropriate messages” to a colleague whilst off duty and “touched a colleague in an unwanted and inappropriate manner”. The conduct concerned a colleague, and the messages were sent whilst he was off duty.

The findings were considered at a hearing lasting four days, which concluded that Maggs’s actions amounted to gross misconduct — the threshold at which an officer’s behaviour is judged to have fallen so far below the standards of professional behaviour that dismissal is justified.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The consequences of the hearing were severe and immediate: Maggs was dismissed without notice from Staffordshire Police and placed on the College of Policing’s Barred List.

Deputy Chief Constable Caroline Marsh said: “The behaviour demonstrated by David Maggs fell far below the high standards we expect of all our officers and staff, both on and off duty.” She added: “His actions were wholly unacceptable and represented a serious breach of the trust placed in him as a police officer.”

Marsh continued: “Everyone who works for Staffordshire Police has the right to feel safe, respected and supported in their workplace. We are committed to fostering a professional culture where inappropriate behaviour is challenged and where anyone who experiences or witnesses misconduct feels able to come forward.” She also thanked the people whose reporting had brought the matter before the force: “I would like to thank the colleagues involved for their courage in reporting this matter.” And she signalled how the force approaches such cases: “Where officers are found to have committed gross misconduct, we will take robust action to hold them accountable.”

Current Status

Maggs has been dismissed without notice and is on the College of Policing’s Barred List, which prevents him from working in policing and other law enforcement bodies again. The Barred List is maintained by the College of Policing, the professional body for policing in England and Wales; as a rule, forces and other law enforcement employers consult it, and a person appearing on it cannot be re-employed in the sector. No appeal against the dismissal was reported, and no criminal proceedings were reported in connection with the matter.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The dismissal without notice ended Maggs’s career as a police constable, and the Barred List placement makes that ending permanent across the sector: he cannot work in policing or in other law enforcement bodies again, not merely with Staffordshire Police. The findings — that he sent unwanted and inappropriate messages to a colleague whilst off duty and touched a colleague in an unwanted and inappropriate manner — now sit on his professional record alongside the panel’s gross misconduct conclusion.

The force’s public framing of the case extends beyond one officer. Marsh’s statement that Maggs’s actions represented “a serious breach of the trust placed in him as a police officer”, and her pledge that officers found to have committed gross misconduct will face “robust action”, present the dismissal as part of a wider commitment to a workplace where colleagues feel able to report misconduct — a commitment the case was used to demonstrate in practice.