PC had former boss breathalysed due to alleged grudge

PC Lee Umpleby previously worked with Sgt Steve Knight at the MoD site in Corsham

A police dog handler had his former boss pulled over for suspected drink-driving because of a grudge, a misconduct hearing was told.

Avon and Somerset PC Lee Umpleby followed Sgt Steve Knight's car for five miles on 14 May last year before getting traffic officers to stop and breathalyse him, in a test which turned out to be negative.

PC Umpleby told the hearing that Sgt Knight, his ex-line manager at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Police, was a "bully" who he believed had drunk-driven in the past.

PC Umpleby admits misconduct but denies gross misconduct.

Monday's hearing, at the Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead, was told that PC Umpleby resigned from the MoD Police in Corsham, Wiltshire, because he could no longer work with Sgt Knight.

It is alleged that after joining Avon and Somerset Constabulary, PC Umpleby, who was based in Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, then “engineered” the roadside stop.

The hearing is taking place at the Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead

PC Umpleby denied it was “payback” for his former boss refusing “excessive” mileage claims, which led to a disciplinary finding of misconduct against PC Umpleby following an MoD internal review of his expenses.

He said he arranged for the car to be stopped because he feared someone could be killed, either on the road or through Sgt Knight’s role as a firearms officer, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

But solicitor Louise Ravenscroft, representing the force, said: “PC Umpleby did not have any reliable or credible evidence or any information to suggest Sgt Knight may be drink-driving.

"PC Umpleby has used his position as a police officer to follow up on a previous grievance he had with Sgt Knight."

'Character assassination'

PC Umpleby said the pair clashed because he disagreed with how Sgt Knight ran the station and added: "He was a bully and used that to intimidate other officers.

"I challenged him on that several times, to which he ignored and denied it."

The hearing was told that when PC Umpleby resigned from Corsham, he left a copy of a letter to the MoD Police chief constable on display for his colleagues to see, criticising Sgt Knight, who called it a "character assassination".

“It wasn’t a character assassination, it was an attempt for me to justify to everyone why I was leaving,” PC Umpleby said.

PC Umpleby claimed he saw his manager drunk at work twice on overtime weekend shifts, but could not report it as it would cause problems for colleagues and that the only way to catch him was a breathalyser test.

He said: “On reflection I shouldn’t have turned up at the scene, but I would always stop at a traffic stop to support colleagues."

'Done things differently'

Body-worn camera footage showed Sgt Knight telling traffic officers at 05:00 BST that his last drink was at 22:30 BST the night before.

PC Umpleby said Sgt Knight should not have had any alcohol because of MoD Police rules for firearms officers.

He added: “I could have done things differently but this was the right thing to do."

PC Umpleby also denies obtaining unauthorised information about his former sergeant’s shift pattern, failing to tell Avon and Somerset Police about their past association and also failing to file an intelligence report.

The hearing continues.