A SENIOR fire officer dodged sanctions after committing "gross misconduct" in his time at the service by retiring during a 21-day grace period last year.

This comes after new allegations arose that firefighters took photographs of dead bodies at car crashes and sexually harassed women.

Read more: ​Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service: Firefighters took photos of bodies

Complaints and allegations regarding the senior officer's conduct and behaviour would have amounted to "gross misconduct" and a "breach of his position of trust".

However the service initially decided to take no further action and only recorded the complaint.

Three months later the service decided to investigate and the senior officer was suspended while an independent investigation took place.

After the investigation, a disciplinary hearing was arranged but the senior officer did not attend and the panel proceeded with the hearing in his absence.

The panel unanimously decided there were "reasonable grounds" to conclude he had committed gross misconduct.

See more: ​Four ongoing criminal investigations into Wiltshire Police staff

Despite this, the service afforded 21 days to anyone who did not turn up to their disciplinary hearing to give them time to appeal the decision.

The officer retired within this 21-day 'appeal period' so he was not sanctioned.

In an email seen by the Journal on Tuesday, February 8, chief fire officer Ben Ansell told all staff that the situation is "both disappointing and frustrating".

He added that he would not share specific details about the discipline case since it could result in a "breach of data protection legislation" and a "significant fine from the Information Commissioner's Office".

He added: "The service has recently reviewed its policies and, in future, the sanctions decided at a disciplinary hearing will take immediate effect.

"This continued to be a really difficult and painful time for us as an organisation."

Read also: ​Record number of trials postponed at Salisbury Crown Court

A Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “When Chief Fire Officer Ben Ansell gave statements to the media last week, he made clear that he was unable to talk about individual cases for legal reasons.

"However, it is also of vital importance, and indeed in the public interest, to demonstrate to the public that we treat sexual misconduct allegations with the utmost seriousness.

“We can confirm that following an independent investigation that on May 22, 2022, an individual was found by a disciplinary committee on the balance of probabilities to have committed gross misconduct. The sanction for such gross misconduct was summary dismissal.

“To the frustration and disappointment of the Service, the individual had earlier already given notice of his intention to retire, and, given the length and complexities of the investigation he was able to retire before the sanction could take effect.”