A former Gloucestershire police officer has been barred from policing after sending “offensive and inappropriate” messages on Facebook.

Jack Walden also posted “sensitive police information” about two members of the public on the social media site at the time he was a special constable in 2018, a misconduct hearing found.

It is not known what the content of the messages Mr Walden sent were and to who.

The hearing, held on Tuesday December 3, found three allegations of “gross misconduct” by Mr Walden on January 16, 2018, March 30, 2018, and April 16, 2018.

In total there were four allegations across a four month period against Mr Walden who resigned in December 2018, “taking full responsibility” and apologised for his behaviour.

Detective superintendent Mark Chicken, of the the force’s professional standards department, said Mr Walden “would have been dismissed” if he still worked at the constabulary.

Mr Chicken said: “Former special constable Jack Walden’s conduct was unacceptable and it was determined that had he still been a member of the Constabulary he would have been dismissed due to gross misconduct.

“His offensive and inappropriate behaviour fell below the high professional standards we expect of our staff.”

Hearing the case last month, chief constable Rod Hansen said: “The type of harm I consider relevant from the College of Policing Guidance relates to reputational harm to the service and to Gloucestershire Constabulary specifically. Such harm will likely undermine public confidence in policing.

“Whilst no harm appears to have been intended or occurred in these circumstances given the closed chat group used by the former officer, harm could reasonably have been foreseen should the material have been disclosed more widely. Certainly in the case of allegation four, disclosure of confidential details about two members of the public could have serious ramifications.

“The behaviours also threaten trust and confidence that British Policing relies upon so heavily.

“The police service continues to struggle to recruit and retain members of the public from under-represented groups. The behaviours exhibited by this former officer would have damaged our chances of improving our community relations and achieving a more diverse workforce had it come to public attention.

“The former officer was, like any officer, holding a position of trust and public responsibility at the relevant time.

“Given that gross misconduct has been found, the behaviour could have caused serious harm to individuals, the community and / or public confidence in the police service. Of greatest importance is the impact of the misconduct on the standing and reputation of the profession of policing as a whole.”