A CIVILIAN female police staff member has settled her legal action against the PSNI over its handling of alleged sexual harassment at work in a Derry police station.
Sinead Hampson’s barrister Liam McCollum QC confirmed to the judge that a confidential resolution had been reached following negotiations at the High Court in Belfast on Thursday.
The PSNI has agreed to play her legal costs under the “terms endorsed” agreement.
The dramatic deal was cut not longer before Ms Hampson was due to get into the witness stand and given evidence in open court in the case which had been expected to last up to five days.
Ms Hampson was seeking damages amid claims that unwanted sexualised touching, harassment and bullying were “brushed under the carpet” amid misogyny and male chauvinism within the force.
But when the case opened on Wednesday before Mr Justice Burgess, the 37-year-old’s senior lawyer said that she was not the only one to raise complaints against Detective Constable Ronan Sharkey, now a detective sergeant.
The judge was told three other women made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against the same detective, including incidents of being slapped on the backside and told to bend over for a spanking.
But Ms Hampson, an administrative assistant, was the only one of the four to make a formal complaint.
The alleged contact occurred at stations in Derry between 2009 and 2012.
It was claimed that DC Sharkey repeatedly put his hands on her shoulders during incidents in work.
Mr Sharkey, since promoted to sergeant, denies her claims and those made by the other women. He never faced any prosecution.
But the court heard an internal disciplinary process resulted in a finding that he breached Ms Hampson’s integrity by placing his hand on her hip.
Allegations of sexualised touching by a male detective on female civilian staff heard at the High Court in Belfast before case was settled.
He was cautioned and fined £250.
Opening Ms Hampson’s case, Liam McCollum QC had argued that physical contact from a serving police officer 20 years older than her was completely inappropriate.
Although police chiefs were said to have separated the detective from his client, he said that wasn’t enough.
The barrister insisted that any so-called “touchy feely” behaviour has no place in the workplace.
The PSNI’s handling of the allegations, he contended, amounted to “a complete dereliction of the duty and obligation of a major employer in the 21st Century”.
Branding the force’s response as “utterly deplorable, appalling”, Mr McCollum claimed it amounted to male chauvinism around women being tolerated or brushed under the carpet.
What happened within that branch of the police amounted to sexism or misogyny, the court heard.
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