PC Zoe Williams denied touching the man sexually on a club dance floor, but a misconduct panel found the allegation proven
Police officer Zoe Williams ‘touched a man’s groin’ while on a night out at the RAFA club in St Davids(Image: polfed.org/Google )
An off-duty police officer who was previously praised for saving a toddler’s life approached a man during a night out and “cupped his groin”, a misconduct panel has heard. PC Zoe Williams, of Dyfed-Powys Police, was allowed to keep her job despite the misconduct panel finding the allegation that she had “touched or cupped” a man’s groin on the dance floor of a club proven.
It said that Williams could not have had “any reasonable belief that he consented to touching him sexually”.
The incident happened when Williams, who has been a serving officer with the force since July 2020, was out socialising with friends in St Davids, Pembrokeshire, over the August bank holiday weekend in 2024.
The off-duty officer had spent time drinking with friends at a pub until closing, when they decided to walk to the RAFA Club in St Davids. On her way to the RAFA Club she met a group of six men from Cardiff who were drinking alcohol on the square in the centre of St Davids.
They all went to the club together, where Williams was seen on CCTV footage interacting with a number of people. The hearing was told her behaviour was “quite disinhibited” and it appeared she had consumed “a significant number of alcoholic drinks that evening”.
PC Williams joined Dyfed-Powys Police in 2020(Image: polfed.org)
In CCTV footage, she was seen embracing and hugging clubgoers who she knew and was dancing in a “fairly extravagant manner” at various times during the hour or so that she was in the RAFA Club. Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter
At around 1.20am on August 24, CCTV captured Williams touching one of the men from Cardiff she had met while walking to the club, referred to as Male A, in the “groin area”. Male A did not make a complaint about the incident, but it was assessed during the misconduct hearing after being recorded on CCTV at the club, where Williams was known to be a police officer by a number of people.
Williams denied touching the man below the belt level and denied “fancying him”, but the panel found the touching wasn’t accidental and it had been sexual.
In her prepared statement she said: “I do not know his name. I was moving past him and instinctively moved him by touching his midriff. There was no assault.”
But the panel said it was “satisfied” Williams deliberately touched Male A when she made two movements towards his groin area which made contact.
“The panel finds that this was not inadvertent or accidental,” its judgement said. “The panel also finds that the touching was sexual because of the location of the touching. In the panel’s judgement, by doing this, PC Williams was probably telling Male A that she was sexually interested in him.”
They also decided Williams “did not exercise self-control when in the RAFA Club”, nor did she “show respect and courtesy towards Male A, whom she hardly knew”.
It added: “The panel finds that the misconduct in this case is so serious that it could result in the dismissal of the officer and is assessed as being gross misconduct.”
The incident happened at the RAFA Club in St Davids(Image: Google)
The hearing found that Williams had breached the standards of professional behaviour and the trust placed in her as a police officer, even if she was off duty.
However, the panel was “impressed” by seven testimonials provided in support of Williams. It particular, it referenced a situation where she had helped to save the life of a two-year-old earlier that year.
While off duty and walking her dog on a beach at Solva, she carried out prolonged CPR after the child collapsed and stopped breathing. The child survived, and Williams later received commendations from the Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Police and the High Sheriff.
It also considered other testimonials describing her as a capable and compassionate officer, who was seen as a “credit to the police service apart from this one off-duty incident”.
The panel also determined the incident was out of character.
The misconduct panel concluded that a final written warning for a period of two years would be the most suitable action.
It said: “In the panel’s judgement a final written warning for two years will make it clear to fellow officers and the general public that the inappropriate behaviour of PC Williams in the St David’s RAFA Club in the early hours of August 24, 2025 had the potential to undermine public confidence in, and the reputation of, the police service.
“A final written warning will also allow PC Williams to continue to serve as a police officer, allowing her to continue to make a valuable contribution to her local community.
“To dismiss PC Williams would be disproportionately harsh towards her and would harm the community where she lives and works by depriving it of someone who has proved to be a good police officer in the past. In the panel’s judgement this was an isolated incident which was out of character for PC Williams.”
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