A detective inspector who flashed his police badge before groping three young women on a drunken night out has been sacked after 28 years of service.
Nick Bellamy, who worked in South Wales Police’s economic crime unit, was found to have touched the inner thigh of one woman, the breast of another and the bottom of a third during a night socialising with colleagues at a pub in Cardiff.
The 52-year-old’s misconduct began when he approached a woman, referred to as Miss A in the hearing in Bridgend, south Wales, who was out with her friends.
Bellamy then showed off his police badge to the woman, who told the panel she had drunk ‘two or three’ beers by this point, before placing his hand on her right thigh.
Miss A said the detective, who admitted to having seven or eights pints as well as white wine before he arrived at the bar, was ‘all over the place’ and ‘more gone’ than she was when he began ‘stroking the inside of [her thigh] with his hand’.
Nick Bellamy, pictured arriving at his hearing in April 2024, has been sacked after he was found to have groped three young women on a night out
The shocked woman then pointed out Bellamy’s behaviour to her friend, referred to as Miss C, who took her to the dancefloor.
Bellamy then sat next to another woman, referred to as Miss B, and ‘kept putting his arm around her’, touching her hand, knee, thigh and left breast.
The detective then sexually touched Miss C, leaning in and moving his hand onto her lower arm, then her shoulder, and then her buttocks, before she leaned away and he moved his hand back to the seat.
Bellamy later returned to Miss A and said she had ‘nice chunky legs’.
Miss A told the panel she spoke to a female colleague of Bellamy’s about his behaviour who said: ‘Just ignore him, he’s like that all the time.’
The three women then left the pub to get away from Bellamy, according to Miss A.
The panel was shown CCTV footage from the pub which the detective accepted showed his line manager ‘trying to usher me away [from the women]’.
After more CCTV was played to the hearing, Bellamy claimed he had been ‘leaning over Miss A to listen to what Miss C is saying’.
He added that when he had his arm around Miss C he was ‘leaning in to communicate’.
The detective apologised for his ‘overfamiliarity’, ‘invasion of their personal space and just general overly tactile behaviour’.
He added he was ‘pretty much horrified’ by his behaviour, which ‘didn’t truly reflect my values’, but insisted he was trying to be ‘friendly’. He denied his actions were sexual or predatory.
Asked about saying Miss A had ‘nice chunky legs’, Bellamy replied: ‘If I did say that I’m hugely sorry and embarrassed and regretful for saying that.’
John Beggs KC, representing the force’s professional standards department, asked Bellamy: ‘You have chosen, I accept in drink, to rest your hand on [Miss C’s] bottom haven’t you?’
Bellamy, who said he recalled little of what happened at the bar including interacting with Miss A and Miss B, accepted he had done this for at least three seconds. He admitted misconduct but felt he was not guilty of gross misconduct as he claimed there was no sexual motivation behind his actions.
The barrister said the footage made clear that Bellamy had carried out ‘a succession of unhappy acts’ which ‘went beyond ‘leaning in’.
Natalie Holly Smith, a financial investigator who resigned from South Wales Police in 2023 but remains a special constable with the force, told the panel she witnessed Bellamy touching one of the women on the thigh but said she felt this was more of a ‘friendly, social’ gesture rather than groping or stroking.
Bellamy apologised for his ‘overfamiliarity’, ‘invasion of their personal space and just general overly tactile behaviour’
She added that she felt ‘quite taken aback’ by the complaint based on what she had witnessed and that she had never had any issues with Bellamy.
Miss C said she had ‘no recollection’ of physical contact from Bellamy but when she watched the footage she came to the conclusion that she leaned away because of the position of his hand on her backside.
She C added: ‘I personally did not feel uncomfortable but do not want to dismiss what Miss A and B felt on that evening.’
Miss B had texted her partner telling him she felt uncomfortable because of the inappropriate contact, Miss C told the panel.
A series of references praised Bellamy’s character and career and Bellamy’s barrister Kevin Baumber described his client as having been ‘a fool, not a threat’.
He said Bellamy was a good person who had made ‘a one-off error’ and should be allowed to keep his job.
But Mr Beggs told the panel: ‘This is not a case of whether DI Bellamy is a good police officer – he clearly is.
‘This is also not a case of whether he is a bad person – he is clearly not.’
And panel chairman Andrew Clemes said the detective had shown a ‘low level’ of insight into his own actions despite ‘some remorse’.
Mr Clemes added: ‘There was abuse of these young women. Members of the public would be offended and surprised if the officer was not held to account.’
The panel ordered Bellamy be dismissed without notice and placed on the College of Policing barred list.
