THE near-£100,000 cost of a written warning to a police sergeant following a month-long disciplinary hearing has been described by the Police Federation as “eye-watering” - and unnecessary.

It was also attacked by MP David Jones, a former Welsh Secretary who called it “a significant waste of public money.”

The tribunal took place in June at the Colwyn Bay headquarters of North Wales Police. Sergeant Melvin Dawson was claimed to have been “trigger happy” in his use of incapacitant spray and faced 15 allegations relating to the treatment of detainees in the custody suite at Caernarfon in 2018 and 2019.

But there was just one finding against him, of a less serious nature, and he was given a written warning.

Freedom of Information responses reveal that it cost the police force £34,600 in barrister fees, plus £929 for subsistence (“providing water, tea, coffee, lunch”) and the Police Commissioner had to find £21,818 in fees of the legally qualified chairwoman and lay member, with expenses – the £57,000 total being met from public funds. The Federation spent more than £40,000 on defending Sgt Dawson, met from its own funds.

The sergeant, who was 18 years in the RAF before talking a psychology degree and joining the police said at the hearing : “You get a lot of threats when you work in custody and you know from the tone and the atmosphere whether they’re empty or not,” denying that he used unreasonable force. He described custody suites as “a dangerous environment”.

Mark Jones, secretary of the Federation in North Wales, said that from the outset Sgt Dawson was consistent that his use of Captor was justified, proportionate and necessary in each of the 15 allegations.

He added : “An independent panel examined and heard a significant amount of evidence and determined that apart from one incident all the allegations were unproven. The one allegation which was proved was deemed to be at the much lower level of ‘misconduct’ rather than the more serious ‘gross misconduct’.

“The same outcome could have been achieved far quicker and far cheaper in an internal misconduct meeting which would have negated these eye-watering costs being incurred.”

Mark Jones said : “All these allegations came forward as a result of an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct yet over £57,000 worth of costs came from the public purse where, I am sure, the public would have wanted to have seen that spent on frontline policing.

“Finally a monetary value cannot be attached to the immeasurable impact this whole process has had on Sgt Dawson, something that could have easily been avoided if dealt with another way.”

In a statement North Wales Police said they convened the misconduct hearing following an IOPC investigation.

“The proceedings which were held in strict compliance with the Police Complaints and Conduct Regulations 2020 ensured due process was followed in the public interest.

“The verdict of the tribunal was made independently and was based solely upon evidence. Furthermore the proceedings were heard in the public domain.”

An IOPC spokesman said their investigation began following a referral from North Wales Police “in relation to the spraying of a number of individuals by the officer after the force had looked into a complaint from another detainee about his treatment in custody. On conclusion in October 2020 we presented our final report to NWP who agreed to take forward a gross misconduct hearing. It was appropriate the evidence was put before an independent panel.“

David Jones, Tory MP for Clwyd West, declared: “The IOPC has some serious questions to answer over its decision to press on with the proceedings against this officer.

“Quite apart from the needless distress and anxiety they have caused Sgt Dawson, they have also resulted in a significant waste of public money - more than enough to pay the cost of putting another fully-trained police officer on the streets of North Wales.

“It is very clear that the complaints against Sgt Dawson could, and should, have been dealt with by an internal administrative procedure. Taxpayers across North Wales will be dismayed by this episode.”

Captor spray, a form of CS gas, is used by forces throughout the UK. After the disciplinary tribunal the Federation claimed that no detainees had complained either in custody or afterwards. They said Sgt Dawson had spent two years “away from the job he loves.”