A police officer who used a homophobic slur during a search for two children in Coleford last year has been issued with a final written warning.

A Gloucestershire Police panel found PC Ashley Reid had committed gross misconduct.

PC Reid, an officer for 14 years, claimed he muttered the term under his breath in frustration as the children ran away from him on October 8.

The panel found that another police officer, a social worker and the two children heard clearly what.

The hearing found PC Reid immediately apologised and has since exhibited genuine remorse and insight into the offensiveness of the term used.

PC Reid was subsequently found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to authority, respect and courtesy and discreditable conduct and these breaches were serious enough to justify his dismal.

In handing him a final written warning, chair of the panel Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson said: “PC Reid was in a position of trust and had a role to safeguard the children, who were vulnerable due to their age, and the public would expect him to be held to account.

“The use of homophobic language is, and always will be, unacceptable and is not compatible with the role of a police officer.

“However, this was a case of one single word said in isolation, in the spur of the moment, immediately followed by an admission and genuine and remorseful apologies to the two people PC Reid believed had heard him.

“The comment was not planned or targeted towards any specific individual or group.

“The panel therefore concluded, when considering all the circumstances and context, that a final written warning of two years was the correct and proportionate sanction in this case.”

The full outcome, which will include in more detail the evidence presented to the hearing and the rationale for the panel’s decisions, will be published on our website in due course.