A PORTSMOUTH police officer who held a held a pair of scissors up to a colleague’s face and told her to “shut your dirty little whore mouth” has been found guilty of gross misconduct.

As previously reported, former PC Simon Hawxwell picked up a pair of scissors and held them to his colleagues cheek after she challenged him for saying a vacancy should go to “a female with massive tits”.

Now, the 47-year-old has been banned as serving as a police officer.

He was found guilty of two counts of gross misconduct.

The victim, referred to as Officer A to protect her identity, said she was left feeling "panicked and shocked" by the alleged incident at Portsmouth Central Police Station.

The incident came just days after Hawxwell put his arm around the same woman’s throat and asked her if she liked being “choked”, a panel was told.

His “sexually aggressive” actions have been branded “utterly inappropriate for the modern police service”.

Hawxwell, who quit Hampshire Police following the incidents last year, refused to appear before a disciplinary panel on Monday.

The former officer, who had 18 years’ experience at the time of the incidents in June 2020, has denied gross misconduct over the two allegations and says anything that happened was "meant as a joke".

Barrister Stephen Morley, bringing the allegations, told the hearing how Hawxwell put his arm around Officer A's throat and made a sexualised comment.

Officer A told the panel: “It was painful.

“It did happen very quickly but I could feel it pushing on my windpipe.

“It was quite shocking when the words followed because I wasn’t expecting to hear that.”

The following day Hawxwell was talking to another colleague in the police station about potential staff vacancies.

He is alleged to have remarked: “It doesn’t matter if they are right for the job we want a female with massive tits.”

When Officer A challenged him he told her to “shut your dirty little whore mouth” and called her a “little slut”, the panel was told.

Hawxwell has claimed his actions were a "joke" and said he did not put Officer A in any sort of hold or restrict her breathing.

He has admitted picking up the scissors and pointing them at Officer A but denied getting close with them or calling her a “little slut”, the panel heard.