The name of a Wiltshire Police officer secretly dismissed from the force has been uncovered in a new exclusive investigation. 

One in four police officers barred from service due to gross misconduct across England and Wales are not revealed to the public due to loopholes, including a dismissed member of Wiltshire Police. 

This is an issue of transparency and accountability, especially as police forces try to increase trust in their services after public outrage following Sarah Everard's murder. 

A national newspaper, the New Statesman, and our sister title, the Brighton Argus, carried out an investigation into officers dismissed in private for misconduct and revealed 212 individuals who were struck off in secret. 

This is despite 2017 regulations stating that barred officers should be placed on a public list by the College of Policing, except in instances that would cause serious harm.

Police forces seem to have exploited a loophole as, to search the database (accessible here), people need to know the name of the officer to find out if they were debarred.

In some cases, the officer’s name had been withheld but their offences had been made public.

Last year, on March 30, a serving member of Wiltshire Police was dismissed “following a breach of the standards of professional behaviour in regard to Honesty and Integrity and Discreditable Conduct”. 

The name of the police officer, Daniel Sergui, has never previously been published.

No further details are given in terms of the nature of the misconduct, but Sergui was previously given a Chief Constable’s Commendation for his bravery and selflessness. 

In December 2016 Sergui and a colleague arrested a known violent offender following an alleged stabbing by chasing them on foot. 

This award was presented in the first Force Awards of 2017. 

Asked to comment on why the officer's name had been kept secret, Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “Every misconduct hearing has an appointed Legally Qualified Chair (LQC) who is independent of Wiltshire Police. 

“It is the responsibility of the LQC alone to determine whether or not a hearing is partially or wholly held in public or in private. Any officer attending a hearing has the right to make representations for it to be held in private.

“The chair will base their decision on a range of different factors and on a case by case basis. One example in police regulations is where the naming of an officer, or notice of the subject matter of an investigation, could risk the identification of a vulnerable victim or complainant against their wishes and the LQC will always consider the public interest.

“The majority of misconduct hearings in Wiltshire are held in public with public access to this information. Where an LQC directs that a hearing is to be held in private, we are unable to confirm details relating to the proceedings without their explicit direction. This is the national position.”

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