Stefan Downs

Introduction

Stefan Downs is a former police constable with Derbyshire Constabulary who was dismissed without notice at an accelerated misconduct hearing in August 2026 after every allegation against him was found proven. The case against him centred on a string of social media posts published during 2025 and 2026 that a misconduct panel found were racist, sexist and otherwise discriminatory — including a comment about a child that the Chief Constable said “condones violence to be used against a child.” Downs attempted to have the hearing delayed on its morning, but the force’s most senior officer refused and the case proceeded in his absence.

Background Information

Downs served as a police constable with Derbyshire Constabulary. He had already been formally warned about his social media activity before the posts that ended his career: in April 2025 he was served with a Written Improvement Notice concerning his use of social media, under which he was required to review the force’s social media policies, undertake training, and consider the Code of Ethics whenever he posted. The later hearing found that despite that warning he made at least four further posts that breached the force’s policies.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Misconduct findings, not criminal convictions. The findings below come from a Derbyshire Constabulary accelerated misconduct panel chaired by Chief Constable Simon Blatchly. Downs admitted making the posts but denied that his conduct breached professional standards; no criminal prosecution arose from the posts. The panel’s findings are regulatory adjudications, not court judgments.

The posts at issue were published on various dates during 2025 and 2026. Among the material the panel considered was a post concerning a child: Chief Constable Blatchly found the language used to describe the child was offensive, inappropriate and derogatory, adding that “it condones violence to be used against a child.” Other posts were found to contain racist, sexist and otherwise discriminatory material — one comment displayed prejudice towards women, another generalised about people on the basis of their skin colour and/or ethnicity, and another equated immigration with criminality. Downs admitted making the social media posts during his investigation interview and again in his formal response to the allegations, but denied that his conduct amounted to breaches of the Standards of Professional Behaviour. The Chief Constable disagreed and found all of the allegations proven on the balance of probabilities.

The hearing itself nearly did not go ahead that day. At 7.30am on the morning of the accelerated hearing, Downs emailed the force seeking an adjournment, saying he had not been offered reasonable adjustments; his Police Federation representative, Mr Galley, advanced the application at the hearing at Derbyshire Police Headquarters in Ripley on August 27. Chief Constable Blatchly refused to postpone the proceedings, and the hearing continued without the officer. The determination did not reveal what specific adjustments Downs had been seeking.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Chief Constable Blatchly found Downs’ actions were “deliberate and intentional,” finding that he had targeted certain groups, and concluded that some of the comments were consciously discriminatory on the grounds of disability, race and sex. The officer’s culpability was assessed as high, as was the level of harm. The Chief Constable noted there was already widespread national concern about police officers sharing the types of attitudes displayed in Downs’ posts, and found the behaviour would seriously damage confidence in the force. He concluded that dismissal without notice was the only appropriate outcome, and Downs was dismissed after every allegation was found proven. The case was reported publicly by the police-misconduct tracker Misconduct999 in September 2026.

Current Status

Downs was dismissed without notice in August 2026 and is no longer a serving police officer. The written improvement notice he received in April 2025, followed by at least four further policy-breaching posts, was treated as an aggravating feature of the case rather than mitigation. No appeal against the panel’s outcome was reported in the sources available.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The dismissal ends Downs’ policing career with Derbyshire Constabulary. Because the posts were found to be consciously discriminatory toward people on the grounds of disability, race and sex — made after a formal written warning about precisely that behaviour — the panel treated the case as among the most serious category of social-media misconduct by a serving officer. The published outcome means any future attempt to work in policing, or in roles requiring disclosure of police disciplinary history, will require him to account for the gross-misconduct finding.

Sources

• Misconduct999, “Police Officer Made 11th-hour Bid To DELAY Hearing Before Being SACKED Over Racist And Sexist Posts — Including Comment That ‘Condoned Violence’ Against A Child,” September 2026. source