A former police leader committed gross misconduct by making a sexual comment about a police widow, a tribunal has heard.

John Apter, 55, who was chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, faced a Hampshire Constabulary disciplinary tribunal over the incident with Lissie Harper, who was married to PC Andrew Harper.

PC Harper, from Wallingford in Oxfordshire, was killed while responding to a bike theft in Berkshire in 2019.

But Mr Apter was cleared of making a comment about a colleague and of touching a woman’s bottom.

Hampshire Constabulary disciplinary tribunal’s legally qualified chair Giles Pengelly said of John Apter’s conduct: “We find the comment made about Lissie Harper proved and is proved to the level of gross misconduct.”

Three teenagers were jailed for PC Harper’s manslaughter in 2020. The Thames Valley Police officer died just four weeks after getting married.

The allegations against Mr Apter first emerged at the end of 2021, after which he was suspended from Hampshire Constabulary and his chairman role.

Previously, a criminal inquiry into the claims was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Mr Apter, who had a 30-year police career, chaired Hampshire Police Federation from 2010 and the national federation from 2018.

That represents more than 130,000 officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector.