Sergeant who showed colleague 'offensive' meme sacked

A police sergeant who showed colleagues an "offensive" meme referring to a "date rape" drugwhile working as a supervisor has been dismissed without notice.

David Brenchley, who worked for Thames Valley Police, was also alleged to have touched a female officer in an "inappropriate and overly familiar" way in 2021 and to have made "inappropriate and unprofessional comments" on a number of occasions in 2025.

These included sexualised innuendos, as well as homophobic and misogynistic comments.

While Brenchley disputed six of the eight allegations, a misconduct panel found all of them to be proved and ruled that the totality of them amounted to gross misconduct.

The misconduct hearing heard that the incidents took place while he was working as a licensed search officer (LSO) team leader, both on and off duty.

Brenchley joined Thames Valley Police in 2003 and was promoted to sergeant in 2013, and had undertaken a broad range of roles which included undertaking Equality Impact Assessments.

An investigation into Brenchley's conduct was launched following a deployment to Scotland in 2025.

Another officer subsequently came forward about an alleged incident of inappropriate touching four years prior.

The panel heard that in July 2025, Brenchley made a homophobic comment, which was overheard by four colleagues.

The panel heard that he was challenged by an officer, to which Brenchley responded with words to the effect of: "Oh, don't worry, I didn't mean you."

The panel concluded that Brenchley was referring to this officer "knowing or assuming" that he was gay.

The panel heard that this was the first time that the officer had experienced homophobic behaviour towards him by a police colleague.

Another officer who heard it said she was "shocked and disgusted by the derogatory homophobic language" and it "left her feeling outraged", the panel heard.

On the same day, Brenchley showed two colleagues a meme on his phone referring to a "date rape" drug.

One of the officers said she was "outraged that a police sergeant would find such a meme funny and make light of sexual abuse", and that she "did not expect to be shown an image referring to sexual abuse by senior managers whilst at work".

The panel found the allegation to be proven and concluded that "he would have known the content of the message before showing his colleagues" and that he "would have known that it was offensive".

The panel also heard that in 2021, while deployed to Cornwall, Brenchley placed his right arm around a junior female colleague's waist, and his right hand on her right hip while in a bar.

The officer said she would "only expect that kind of tactile behaviour from someone she knew very well, such as a family member".

The panel found this allegation to be "factually proven".

It also found that, as the sergeant of the LSO group, Brenchley was "expected to act as a role model and create an inclusive and positive work environment for his colleagues" while he was deployed representing the force on a national policing operation.

The panel said Brenchley "had entered into a course of conduct where he either failed to respect junior colleagues' personal boundaries or used sexually inappropriate comments in their presence".

The panel concluded that if the public were aware of the proven allegations, it would "undermine confidence in the police service".

The panel found the incidents relating to the homophobic comment and the meme both amounted to gross misconduct, and that that the other six allegations individually amounted to "at least the threshold for misconduct".