A former Teesdale Mercury editor has been dismissed from his job as a police constable.
Trevor Brookes, who edited the paper between 2011 and 2023, faced a misconduct hearing after he admitted slashing the tyres of his ex-partner’s car when he appeared in criminal proceedings at York Magistrates’ Court last year.
The incident happened in November 2024.
Following the hearing last month, Chief Constable Rachel Bacon found that both his actions and his court admission, amounted to gross misconduct.
The chief constable’s report said: “Between November 1 and 3, 2024, you attended the home address of your estranged partner. On that attendance, you committed the offence of criminal damage by damaging the tyres of her car.
“You had no justification for doing so and you have, quite rightly, not attempted to excuse this behaviour. On November 25, 2025, you pleaded guilty and so were convicted of criminal damage in relation to that event. You were fined and a restraining order was imposed.
“This constitutes, as is accepted, a breach of the professional standard in respect of discreditable conduct.”
She went further to point out that his actions amounted to domestic violence, and considerable harm was caused to his ex-partner, confirmed by the two-year restraining order made against him.
Ms Bacon said: “In terms of the wider harm, it is obviously of great importance to the police force that its officers are seen to obey and uphold the law, and the reputational damage that might be caused to the force were it known that such officers were pursuing such conduct against their partners is high.
“An informed member of the public would have their confidence in policing diminished if they knew about the case. The harm caused would potentially put at risk complainants coming forward to disclose offences to the police in future. I therefore find this is a high harm case.”
The chief constable said there were three options to consider – a final written warning, a demotion, or dismissal.
She said: “The only appropriate outcome for this case is dismissal without notice. I direct to the appropriate authority that the officer therefore ought to be included on the barred list.”
Brookes was given the right to appeal the decision within 10 days.
