A chief constable had sex with a colleague while responsible for managing critical incidents and instructed another lover to stay away from police functions when his wife was present, a misconduct tribunal heard.
Scott Chilton, 53, acted with “deliberate dishonesty” on several occasions and exploited his position for “his own sexual gratification”, a police standards panel concluded.
The panel found him guilty on Thursday of four misconduct charges linked to affairs with two colleagues. It said he could have been dismissed had he not already retired as chief constable of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.
At the time of his relationship with the first woman, Mr Chilton was a superintendent holding “force silver” status. That meant he was responsible for overseeing critical incidents across the county.
The police standards panel said members of the public would consider it “wholly unacceptable” for an officer in a command role to engage in sexual activity while on duty.
Panel chair Michelle Skeer said Mr Chilton might have been unable to respond had a major incident occurred during that time.
Ms Skeer said Mr Chilton appeared motivated by a sense of “entitlement”. She also described him as “domineering and abusive” towards colleagues during a meeting he arranged in an attempt to prevent an investigation into his behaviour.
Former Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Chief Constable Scott Chilton did not attend the misconduct hearing, citing ill health
Mr Chilton, who received a £55,000 payment after stepping down last year, was married when he began an affair with the first woman, a sergeant he was assigned to mentor.
The officer, who cannot be identified, said they had intercourse “on a number of occasions”. Mr Chilton ended the relationship at her police station in 2012.
The tribunal heard that Mr Chilton started seeing a second colleague only weeks after taking over as chief constable in February 2023.
He visited her home “once or twice a week” and told her he was divorced, although he had in fact remarried. She said the attention she received from Mr Chilton was “what the doctor ordered”.
The panel found “overwhelming evidence” that Mr Chilton had a sexual relationship with Officer A while on duty and failed to declare it.
It described Officer A as a consistent and credible witness whose evidence had not been embellished or exaggerated.
According to the panel, Mr Chilton was “deliberately dishonest” on multiple occasions, both by failing to reveal the relationship and by continuing to deny that it had taken place.
After allegations about the affair surfaced in 2023, Mr Chilton convened a meeting aimed at halting an investigation into his conduct. During the meeting, he was “domineering and abusive” towards colleagues, the panel said.
He also attempted to “control the narrative” surrounding media inquiries by pressuring Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones to amend her statement.
The panel said Mr Chilton tried to portray Officer A “in a negative light”, despite the possible damage this could cause to her reputation.
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“He continued to dishonestly deny the relationship. FCC Chilton’s conduct showed a persistent dishonesty and lack of integrity,” it added.
The panel also found that Mr Chilton had “abused his position for a sexual purpose” by pursuing a sexual relationship with the second woman, identified as Officer B.
The panel said she was a subordinate ranking officer and Mr Chilton instigated the private messaging and further instigated the visit to her home address where the sexual relationship started.
In her evidence, Officer B said she felt like she had ‘woman imposter syndrome’ and found Mr Chilton to be very ’empowering’.
The panel said it was ‘clear the relationship came about as a result of his position’ and the power imbalance was evidenced by Officer B acquiescing to Mr Chilton’s requests not to attend force events when his wife was in attendance.
One witness told how she had invited Officer B as her guest to a Police Federation event in October 2023 but she had declined as she knew that Mr Chilton and his wife were going to be in attendance.
The panel said: ‘This shows that Officer B was changing her behaviour at FCC Chilton behest.’
The tribunal heard that once Mr Chilton realised the relationship with Officer A was going to come to light, he ‘sought to exert pressure over Officer B’ to ‘coerce her’ to keep their relationship quiet, the panel said.
He had ‘bombarded’ her with calls and messages and told her to ‘delete and double delete’ any communication between them.
The panel said he had shown a complete disregard throughout for his responsibilities to the public.
Ms Skeer said: ‘He was in the highest position of trust as the most senior officer in the constabulary and ought to have known the foreseeable risk of harm by having a covert relationship.
‘He repeatedly lied by act and omission about both his relationships with Officer A and Officer B and he knew that this was wrong.
‘His conduct was a serious, deliberate and sustained attempt to mislead the PCC and colleagues to subvert any negative impact on himself.
She added: ‘All police officers are in a position of trust, however FCC Chilton was in the highest position of trust, he would have been privy to confidential and sensitive information on colleagues, security and national policing matters.
‘There was evidence that he was discussing issues which he shouldn’t have been discussing with Officer B during WhatsApp message exchanges.’
It emerged earlier this year that Mr Chilton was paid £55,154 as ‘compensation for loss of employment’ after he resigned with immediate effect in April last year.
The payment is understood to relate to a payment in lieu of working his notice period.
Mr Chilton did not attend the hearing citing ill health. He issued a statement admitting his actions ‘fell short’ of expectations but denied gross misconduct.
