Several news outlets across the UK have reported today that a tribunal into gross misconduct heard that the two officers, who have not been identified, were said to have damaged the door of a toilet cubicle during a vigorous sexual encounter.

The claims were made by Derbyshire Chief Superintendent Graham McLaughlin, the ‘gold commander’ of a contingent of UK police officers sent to the [British] Virgin Islands to assist with the response to 2017’s Hurricane Irma.

McLaughlin under investigation

The suspension of Mr Graham McLaughlin back in December 2017 had taken interest in the VI since it was reported that the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) was seeking to hire Mr McLaughlin, although Commissioner of Police Mr Michael B. Matthews had subsequently told this news site the reports were not true.

The 53-year-old McLaughlin appeared at Derbyshire Police headquarters in Ripley yesterday, November 20, 2019 for the tribunal, where it was alleged that he had sent ‘menacing’ text messages to a female officer, threatening to release ‘graphic’ details of her sex life, according to the Daily Mail.

McLaughlin revealed the claims about the two officers as he said ‘worse things’ had been done by other members of the force, citing the toilet incident as an example.

He said their amorous behaviour was an example of more serious misdemeanours committed by other officers who, unlike him, had been investigated and escaped censure.

Branding the proceedings a ‘sham’ which had been instigated as a result of a ‘personal vendetta’ against him by a senior colleague, the former officer then absented himself from the rest of the proceedings and walked out.

The hearing was told that McLaughlin had been made the subject of a misconduct meeting which resulted in a final written warning as a result of an incident which took place during the Caribbean mission, the Daily Mail further reported.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Matthews told Virgin Islands News Online today, November 21, 2019, he was aware Chief Superintendent McLaughlin was the subject of an investigation on his return to the UK in 2017 “but [I] have no further knowledge on the matter.”