A police sergeant who verbally abused a woman before pushing her out of a front door in a domestic row has been slapped with a written warning.

Rebecca Jones, 35, was found to have breached Kent Police’s Standards of Professional Behaviour on authority, respect and courtesy, and discreditable conduct, following the incident at a home in Medway on September 2 last year.

Sgt Jones was visiting the house, where she had previously lived, to pick up some of her belongings following a break-up with her partner, a fellow serving officer in London, three months earlier.

Two colleagues from the force had joined Sgt Jones, who was off-duty, in helping to move the items, when she recognised a friend’s car was parked near the house.

Suspecting her ex-partner had begun a new relationship with the woman, Sgt Jones entered the house and demanded that she leave.

A misconduct hearing at Kent Police’s headquarters in Maidstone was told Sgt Jones was "red in the face and extremely angry" as she hurled verbal abuse at the woman and pushed her out the front door along with her keys.

She also snapped at the colleagues who had assisted her after they suggested she shouldn’t have entered the house when she spotted the woman’s car, which the misconduct panel concluded breached standards of authority, respect and courtesy.

The panel also concluded her behaviour breached standards in respect of discreditable conduct but gave an overall verdict of misconduct, rather than gross misconduct.

Sgt Jones told the hearing: “It’s definitely not my finest moment. It’s not something I would ever, ever want to repeat and not something I would ever look to do again.

"Police officers are held to a high standard of conduct and cannot allow personal difficulties to overwhelm them" - Nicola Talbot-Hadley

“It’s not me, it’s not who I am. I have worked hard for what I want, and I would like to keep doing that.”

Chairman Nicola Talbot-Hadley ordered Sgt Jones with a written warning, which will appear on her record for 12 months.

She said: “This incident took place in a residential area and any member of the public witnessing it would have been shocked.

"Police officers are held to a high standard of conduct and cannot allow personal difficulties to overwhelm them.

"She has brought discredit on herself and the policing profession.

"We hope she will learn from this incident and will continue to serve the public.”