Thames Valley PC sacked over use of force during off duty arrest

Ricky Eagles is sacked after being found to have breached police standards at a hearing at Thames Valley HQ at Kidlington, Oxfordshire

A police officer has been sacked after using force while trying to arrest a man when he was off-duty and had consumed alcohol.

PC Ricky Eagles, who worked for Thames Valley Police, was found to have breached professional standards during the incident on 13 March.

A hearing was told the officer, based in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, committed three counts of gross misconduct and one of misconduct.

He was dismissed without notice.

At a three-day misconduct tribunal hearing at the force's headquarters in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, it was found that PC Eagles breached four professional standards during the attempted arrest of "Mr A".

The panel heard the use of force caused an injury to Mr A, which was deemed to be discreditable police conduct that was likely to "undermine public confidence in the police".

The police constable was also found to have breached standards of professional behaviour by lying about what took place during the arrest.

He had claimed another officer had struggled to put handcuffs on Mr A and had been "screaming for help".

PC Eagles also breached conduct rules by showing a lack of respect for other officers involved at the time of the arrest.

Thames Valley Police said it was also proven that the officer was unfit for duty as he had been drinking alcohol.

The matters individually and collectively amounted to gross misconduct, the hearing report said, and were "so serious that your dismissal would be justified".

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