AN Essex police officer who was also a community pastor was found to have committed gross misconduct and has been dismissed without notice after a misconduct panel was convened about his actions.

Police Constable Daniel Stanley, who served in the force's hate crime unit, was alleged to have breached standards of policing in relation to honesty and integrity, authority, respect and courtesy, and discreditable conduct.

In his capacity as a pastor PC Stanley was alleged to have made negative comments about two members of his congregation, which he shared or permitted to be shared, on the social media profile of the church he is associated with.

He uploaded a 'distressing' sermon onto social media in which he accused two members of a congregation of 'public nudity' and 'fraud' .

In it, he accused two members of the church, who have not been named, of immoral and criminal behaviour. The incident took place after one took up the position of minister elsewhere. Both had been living with Stanley, but left after the relationship broke down.

He also uploaded a voice message onto social media on August 5, 2023. In it, another person made accusations of immorality about the two.

He later tried to pass responsibility for this decision onto the board of the congregation, which was made up of three people - including Stanley.

Stanley said that he and the board as a whole took the decision to broadcast the live stream to enable his congregation to "know the true reason as to why they had left his home".

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The misconduct panel found that the upload was an 'act of vengeance' and not Stanley exercising his religious beliefs. It also found that the making of insulting remarks and circulating information that he had no evidence to prove showed he lacked integrity as an officer.

Stanley said that the purpose of the sermon was to "safeguard the reputation of the church", but the panel found that the tone and nature of the sermon was vindictive towards those concerned. The panel found the uploads were "intentional, deliberate and targeted" against two individuals where the harm could have been clearly foreseen. It added: "Even more so given his role as a hate crime officer".

He was dismissed without notice.

ACC Morris said: "PC Stanley had a position of power and authority, both as a pastor and a police officer, and had a responsibility to treat everyone connected with those roles respectfully.

"Comments of this nature are not acceptable for those in these roles.

"There are thousands of hard-working officers who are let down by his actions, which fell far below the standards we expect of those working for Essex Police."