His case was considered by a misconduct panel this week
Louis Southon served in Folkestone. Pictured here at a previous awards ceremony(Image: Kent Police / Local Democracy Reporting Service)
A “handsy” Kent police officer once praised for bravery has been barred from the force for life after groping two colleagues. Folkestone -based Louis Southon would have faced dismissal this week had he not already resigned after his lurid actions.
The former officer did not attend a Kent Police misconduct hearing, citing a need to “protect his mental health” while denying all allegations. His case was considered by a misconduct panel chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Brooks, beginning on Monday, January 12, where the facts of the case were laid bare.
The tribunal heard Southon joined Kent Police in 2017, serving on the Folkestone local policing team. The panel was told how, in 2022, Southon attended a nightclub in Canterbury on a work night out, where he groped the breast of a female colleague, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Giving evidence, the officer said: “We [colleagues] were all sort of together and he wasn’t in my vision in front of me; then I felt this presence behind me, and I felt that person get very close to me. I felt their hand on the right hand side of me, on my rib area, which I found uncomfortable and I moved their hand away.”
She said Southon then moved his hand to the other side of her chest, forcing her to fend him off. Only after turning around did she realise it was him.
“From what I remember he left quite quickly after that and he didn’t say bye,” she added. “He’d always been very inappropriate at work in terms of the general language he used.”
The officer said she did not immediately report the incident, in part because Southon was a more senior officer. But she disclosed that colleagues had “casually” mentioned he had a reputation for being “handsy” after the night out in question.
She came forward formally after another female colleague disclosed similar behaviour. The second officer, who also gave evidence, said Southon, who is married, groped her at a previous Christmas event, which led to a disciplinary procedure.
She told the panel: “Whilst I was in the car there was a female officer on my left and he was on my right. He put his hand between my legs on my inner thigh and squeezed.
“Prior to this, when we were at the other pub, he became very tactile, which was very odd behaviour. He was massaging my back and sitting near to me and just making lots of contact.
“I was shocked about his behaviour and, if I’m honest, I didn’t know what to say – I didn’t want to draw attention to it.” Southon did not attend the hearing, held at Maidstone police HQ, and resigned effective December 30.
Assistant Chief Constable Brooks said he “completely denies any sexual touching.” In a written statement submitted to the panel, Southon said: “To protect my mental health I feel I have no option but to not attend this process.”
Jane Jones, the panel’s legally qualified advisor, said he had not provided medical evidence to support his claim. Following a two-day hearing, the panel found, on the balance of probabilities, that the allegations were true and amounted to gross misconduct.
Southon would have been dismissed had he still been serving and is now barred for life from the police service. The former officer was previously awarded by Kent Fire & Rescue Service for rescuing an arsonist from a fire in Sellindge.
