A Stevenage police officer who had been with the force for just 19 days resigned after headbutting a man while off duty last year.

Former PC Jamie Woolf, 22, was intoxicated at the Drapers Arms in Stevenage’s High Street on August 4 2018, when he headbutted his victim twice, leaving with minor cuts to his nose.

He resigned two days after the incident, but a misconduct hearing – held at Herts Police’s Welwyn Garden City HQ on Monday, January 21 – found his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

Had he not resigned, the seriousness of the case would have seen Woolf dismissed without notice and an appropriate record made on the disapproved register.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Pete Rivers told the hearing that Woolf – who was 21 years old at the time of the attack – had been at the “very start of his initial training”.

The former PC did not have “full recall” of the incident, but acknowledged his behaviour had been “unacceptable”, adding: “It was simply a case of too much drink.”

Det Con Rivers also stressed that Woolf had “no street experience or contact with the public”.

Speaking following the hearing, Chief Constable Charlie Hall said: “Whilst he had only served with the constabulary for a matter of 19 days prior to this incident, former PC Woolf should nevertheless have known that such behaviour either on or off duty is completely unacceptable.

“It is unbecoming of a police officer and a poor reflection on the police service and the excellent work of most police officers serving the public day in day out.

“Policing must uphold the highest of standards to maintain the confidence of the public and the actions of former PC Woolf fell well short of these.

“He has brought considerable discredit on himself, and by virtue of his recent appointment, Hertfordshire Constabulary.

“I am only grateful that with just 19 days service he will not have been exposed to unsupervised access to the public in his new role as a police officer.”