Police officer sexually assaulted four women after being hailed a hero

A police officer sexually assaulted four women on the night he was hailed for being a hero.

David Jones groped his victims while dancing to an Abba tribute band at the Scottish First Aid awards celebration at Glasgow’s Radisson Blu hotel on March 31, 2023.

The women were a firefighter, a swimming instructor, her sister, and a paramedic student.

The married 36-year-old constable – based in Auchterarder in Perthshire – and three colleagues had earlier been recognised for what was described as “heroic acts of bravery”.

They had to deal with a mentally ill, knife-wielding man – who had injured himself – while responding to reports of a gas leak in Edinburgh.

Vital first aid was provided while still managing to evacuate the area before back-up arrived.

Jones and his fellow officers collected the Chairperson’s Award for their efforts.

But he was found guilty following a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Police Scotland said he remains suspended and will be the subject of misconduct proceedings.

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre said: “The incidents were linked in character, circumstance and time of the commission of the conduct systematically pursued by you.

“The witnesses told the truth in their account of your conduct.

“I reject that they were lying or mistaken.

“I have scarcely seen more credible witnesses and I found them persuasive, compelling and each corroborated one another.”

Jones was found not guilty of a further three sexual assault allegations against a politics student, a lab assistant and an ambulance worker.

The trial heard how revellers partied to an Abba tribute act and a DJ after awards were handed out.

Jones attacked the women while drunk on the dancefloor.

One of the victims, a 23-year-old paramedic student, told the court: “There was a man who just happened to win an award that night who kept trying to dance with me.

“I brushed it off, but he kept following me as if he was thirsty for my attention.

“At first he grinded on me which made me feel uncomfortable.”

The woman claimed that Jones then followed her, grabbed her by the hand then spun her around.

She said: “At first it was over my clothes he tried to grab my breast.”

The witness went on to say Jones put his hand under her dress.

Prosecutor Abbas Ali asked her how it made her feel.

The woman replied: “Dirty.” She told the trial she has been left suffering from PTSD.

The 30-year-old firefighter stated she had been on the dancefloor with colleagues at the celebration.

“I felt a distinctive bump on my back then a grab on my bum,” she said.

The woman described it as a “grope” and a “squeeze”.

The 23-year-old swimming instructor told of an “uncomfortable interaction” with a stranger who groped her breast.

She said: “I told him to get away from me.” The man remained “lingering” near her group – before then pawing at her sister.

The sibling said she was “grabbed more vigorously” leaving her “uncomfortable and intimidated”.

The witness said: “I was disappointed someone would do that at an event where we were there to enjoy as volunteers from charity.”

A security guard told the court that he ejected an “intoxicated” Jones after being spotted encroaching the personal space of others.

Jones stated in his evidence that he “potentially” came into physical contact with the women on the dancefloor.

He told his lawyer Christopher Shaw he would have stopped dancing with them had they refused.

Jones insisted he “did not know why” he had been kicked out the bash at the end of the evening.

He accepted he may have apologised to the one of the women, but that the females were “mistaken by thinking it was something it was not”.

Jones was put on the sex offenders list. He will be sentenced next month and was granted bail meantime.

Police Scotland chief superintendent Helen Harrison, head of Professional Standards Department, said: ” I would like to thank those women who came forward to report these matters as this can be incredibly difficult, particularly when the individual is a serving police officer.

“As an organisation, we know how much damage can be caused to public trust and confidence in policing by the actions of those who do not live our values, who do not carry out their role with integrity, and who do not uphold the standards we expect in policing.

“The officer remains suspended and will be the subject of misconduct proceedings at the conclusion of the criminal case.”