PC resigns before facing sack for driving too fast

Thames Valley Police covers Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire

A former PC who drove over the speed limit without permission would have been sacked if he had not already resigned, a police misconduct panel has ruled.

Christopher Forshaw, who worked for Thames Valley Police (TVP), drove at 69mph in a 40mph zone to respond to a road crash on 5 February 2023.

His response on being asked for details by TVP was "very poor and bordering on obstructive", a staff member said.

Chief constable Jason Hogg said the officer's behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and the force "simply cannot have dishonest people" in its ranks.

Mr Forshaw had transferred from another force in December 2022 and claimed his driving record was "incomplete and had not been transferred over to TVP correctly".

But his former force, which has not been disclosed, told TVP he had not attended relevant driving courses and was not authorised to drive police vehicles at speed.

In papers published by TVP following an accelerated misconduct hearing chaired by Mr Hogg, the force said Mr Forshaw appeared to have been dishonest to senior staff over the matter.

In another instance, Mr Hogg found Mr Forshaw "failed to reveal the full extent" of a medical condition to the force.

Mr Hogg said he found on the balance of probabilities that Mr Forshaw had lied twice.

"On this basis I have come to the view that the behaviour was not a mistake or error on behalf of the officer but shows a course of conduct that he is fundamentally a dishonest individual," Mr Hogg said.

The "only reasonable outcome" would have been to sack Mr Forshaw had he still been a serving officer, he added.

The force said it would not disclose where Mr Forshaw worked.