“Oh, you can have her; we want to get rid of her!”
A Sussex Police officer has been dismissed without notice after a disciplinary panel found he had subjected a junior colleague to a sustained campaign of harassment and victimisation.
PC Robert Potts, who had already been under a Final Written Warning for a previous gross misconduct matter, was hauled before a misconduct panel in April 2025. The hearing, chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Peter Gardner, considered five separate allegations against him, all involving derogatory and threatening comments aimed at PC Walter, a female colleague.
The panel heard that between July 2021 and April 2023, Potts made a series of abusive remarks, including telling another officer that if PC Walter “was getting her head kicked in,” he would not assist her. On another occasion, he referred to her as a “snake,” and reportedly said, “Oh, you can have her; we want to get rid of her!” in an apparent attempt to engineer her removal from his team.
In yet another incident, Potts referred to PC Walter using the most offensive language, calling her a “c***” on more than one occasion. He also claimed he “could not stand” her and “could not work with her.” While the panel did not find sufficient evidence for the fifth allegation, it concluded that the proven incidents demonstrated a pattern of targeted and deliberate victimisation.
The panel found that Potts had breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour relating to Authority, Respect and Courtesy, and Discreditable Conduct. The behaviour was described as “intentional, deliberate and targeted,” with a significant power imbalance, given Potts’ seniority.
His actions, the panel said, caused substantial harm to PC Walter’s wellbeing and undermined confidence in Sussex Police. The misconduct occurred while Potts was already serving a three-year Final Written Warning for an earlier gross misconduct incident in which he abandoned his duties to give a lift to three female friends in a police vehicle.
Because of the live Final Written Warning and his constable rank, the panel ruled that dismissal without notice was the only sanction available. Potts will now be added to the police barred list, preventing him from returning to the profession.
