A POLICE officer who was once in the top six per cent of newly qualified sergeants in the country has been sacked after deliberately squeezing a woman's breast while on a 16-pint pub crawl.

PC Ralph Bainbridge, of Cleveland Police, groped the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, during a day out to York with work colleagues.

The officer shook his head as the decision was read out and left the hearing before the panel gave their decision on his future.

A police misconduct hearing at The Grand Hotel in Hartlepool ruled that PC Bainbridge's actions "fell short of professional standards" and amounted to "gross misconduct".

The hearing heard the officer put one arm around the woman's waist and another over her shoulder, where he then felt and squeezed her breast, during the incident last year.

He later tried to apologise to the victim, but after she said she "didn't want to speak to him again", he told her to "f*** off".

PC Bainbridge, claimed he "only went in for a friendly hug" and "brushed" the victim's breast, but did not squeeze.

But the panel ruled the victim's version of events was "reliable" and PC Bainbridge's version was "implausible".

When he was challenged on the night about what happened, the panel found that PC Bainbridge was "defensive rather than contrite".

Dijen Basu, representing Cleveland Police, told the panel that had found PC Bainbridge carried out a sexual assault, which is "very damaging to public confidence in Cleveland Police".

He also said the officer was in the top six per cent of newly qualified police sergeants in the country, based on his exam results in 2015.

The panel heard PC Bainbridge had received a final written warning in 2015, which has now expired, and had a "poor" sick record.

Ailsa Williamson, representing PC Bainbridge, said the officer's actions were not "targeted or planned" and his previous final warning was for "very different conduct".

"There has been no physical or psychological impact for the victim, but of course I accept it was unpleasant for the victim.

"She was entitled to go out without being handled in such a way."

She added that some of PC Bainbridge's colleagues had some "very complimentary things to say" about him.

Susan Monaghan, chair of the panel, said: "No member of the public would expect a police officer to behave in the manner PC Bainbridge did.

"Such a decision (dismissal) is necessary to maintain public confidence in the police force."

Warren Shepheard, directorate of standards and ethics at Cleveland Police, said: “We do not underestimate the bravery of the victim.

"The misconduct process has found that the officer’s actions amounted to gross misconduct and he has been dismissed.

"The public rightly expect the highest standards of officers, whether on or off duty, and the behaviour shown by PC Ralph Bainbridge will not be tolerated.”