The assistant chief constable of Cambridgeshire Constabulary has been issued with a final written warning following a misconduct hearing.

ACC Nav Malik attended the two-day hearing at Wyboston Lakes earlier this week and admitted breaching the Standard of Professional Behaviour in respect of Discreditable Conduct. The Appropriate Authority decided that charges relating to honesty and integrity would not be pursued.

On Tuesday, a disciplinary panel made its recommendations and the deputy chief constable, Alan Baldwin, has accepted those recommendations and issued ACC Malik with the final written warning.

Chief Constable Alec Wood said: “We accepted the recommendation of the independent panel in relation to the future of ACC Malik.

“The panel considered all of the facts and mitigation over two days and recommended he should remain in public service and receive a final written warning. This is the most serious sanction available other than dismissal.

“When I was made aware of what happened, I immediately arranged for an outside force to investigate, for the Independent Police Complaints Commission to be informed and ACC Malik was put through a completely open, transparent and independent misconduct process.

“The public expect us to safeguard the rule of law, act fairly and impartially and provide a professional and selfless service. As a force we pride ourselves on creating a climate where our staff and officers feel a genuine obligation to openness and transparency when reporting wrongdoings and a culture where it is safe and accepted to report on suspect conduct. We actively encourage our officers and staff to report concerns of wrongdoing which are taken seriously and investigated expeditiously and diligently.

“ACC Malik’s actions completely undermined the promotion process which is in place to ensure the best candidates serve the public. He let me, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and most importantly, the public he serves, down.

“It is now important that we move forward. ACC Malik by his own admission misused his position as a chief officer. He acknowledges and deeply regrets his actions.

“ACC Malik has had an unblemished and outstanding career. He has been given a chance to continue demonstrating that he is committed to serving the public. We will now work with him to consider how he best achieves this in support of Cambridgeshire Constabulary.”

During the hearing a statement was read out to the panel in which ACC Malik “apologised “unreservedly” and said he was “deeply embarrassed” by his actions.

Chris Daw QC, for Mr Malik, said it was a “momentary lapse of concentration, a single error of judgment, in the context of an unblemished and outstanding career”.

ACC Malik was reported after he instructed a member of staff to pass question topics to a candidate before a promotion interview.