A FORMER Gwent Police officer's behaviour to two of his ex-girlfriends amounted to gross misconduct and would have "appalled" the public, a panel found.

Clarke Joslyn, an officer for 26 years, would have been dismissed from the force if he had not resigned, it also decided.

The decision against Mr Joslyn was first reported by the Argus on March 22, but the full details of the panel's findings have now been published.

In its conclusions, the panel said it was “satisfied on the basis of all the evidence before it that Mr Joslyn engaged in a continuously abusive course of conduct towards women".

At the hearing in Cwmbran, which took place between January 30 and February 1 the panel heard from two of Mr Joslyn's former girlfriends, Witness D and Witness E.

Mr Joslyn did not attend the hearing, but gave written submissions to the panel. He denied the charges against him.

Witness D told the panel how Mr Joslyn had threatened to "end her" if she ever humiliated him, and would grab her from behind and tell her he could choke her.

She said he had repeatedly accused her of being unfaithful, and had made insulting comments about her disabled step-sister.

The panel found Witness D to be "a compelling witness" who was not "driven by revenge," as Mr Joslyn had implied in his written submissions.

In its findings, the panel said: " It is clear from the facts set out in the charges...that Mr Joslyn was seeking to dominate Witness D in the relationship.”

The panel found Mr Joslyn had subjected Witness D to "controlling and/or coercive behaviour".

The panel found charges that Mr Joslyn had grabbed Witness E by the face, and in a separate incident had pinned her against the wall while holding a knife, proved.

But a charge that Mr Joslyn had seriously sexually assaulted Witness E after a party was found not proved.

Witness E also alleged Mr Joslyn had made a series of derogatory remarks about disabled people and ethnic minorities.

In his defence, Mr Joslyn wrote that his comments were "tame in comparison" to jokes made by famous comedians such as Ricky Gervais or Frankie Boyle, and provided the panel with a script by the latter.

But the panel found Mr Joslyn's comments had been "insulting and disreputable", and all but one of the charges relating to those derogatory remarks were proved.

The standard of proof applied in misconduct hearings is based on the balance of probabilities.

Mr Joslyn resigned from the police when proceedings against him began in November 2018. Those proceedings were later postponed until January 30.

In its conclusions, the panel said: "The findings in this case were so serious that the public would be appalled that a police officer behaved in the way that Mr Joslyn has.”

It added: " If Mr Joslyn was still a police officer, his ongoing service would have undermined public confidence in the police service."