A THAMES Valley Police officer who resigned after he hit a 16-year-old boy in the face and then stripped him naked in a police cell would have been sacked anyway, a police panel has found.

Matthew Myers, who was working as a custody sergeant at the time of the incident in January 2020, only stepped down from the force on May 5 2021.

He was handed a community order for his actions in court in February of this year, where it was revealed that Myers struck the child -- whose first language was not English -- before removing his clothing and leaving him naked in custody.

Following this sentencing, he was suspended from his role as Police Sergeant.

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Now, an investigation from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has concluded that Myers would have been sacked from Thames Valley Police for gross misconduct had he not already resigned.

This means he will be barred from future employment within the police service as he breached police standards of professional behaviour.

IOPC boss Graham Beesley, said: “Custody staff work in a difficult environment and can face challenging individuals and circumstances on a daily basis.

“But they have a primary duty of care to ensure the safety and welfare of all those who are detained.

“This officer was in a position of considerable responsibility and acted in a wholly unprofessional manner in striking the boy over the face and leaving him naked in his cell.

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“His treatment of a boy who was vulnerable, and for whom English was not his first language, was the exact opposite of what was expected of him.

“He failed to show the leadership required of a custody sergeant.

“The disciplinary hearing’s sanction means that, rightly, he will not be able to work for the police service in the future.”

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The findings of the misconduct hearing into Myers, who hit the boy while working as a custody sergeant in Banbury, Oxfordshire, were only published yesterday [May 10] after his misconduct hearing was delayed until criminal proceedings had been completed.