'No case to answer' in Finn's Law police officer welfare investigation

PC Dave Wardell and Finn had been working together for seven years when a knife attack almost took the dog's life

An investigation into the conduct of an officer whose police dog became a TV star after being attacked by a teenager has found there is no case to answer.

Dave Wardell, from Hertfordshire, appeared on ITV's Britain's Got Talent with his dog Finn.

An investigation began into "conduct with regards to police dog welfare issues" in January.

PC Wardell says a dog taken from him by the police has since died and another has been rehomed.

The policeman and Finn were attacked in Stevenage in 2016. Both were stabbed but Finn protected his handler and almost died.

Finn recovered and returned to duty. He retired in 2017, and appeared on the ITV show two years later.

Retired police dog Finn and his handler PC Dave Wardell won a Friends for Life award

The assault on Finn was dealt with as a "criminal damage" offence and PC Wardell campaigned for the law to be changed for incidents involving injury to police support animals.

An amendment to the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Act was passed in 2019 making it more difficult for defendants to claim they had harmed a police animal in self-defence. It became known as Finn's Law.

Finn died in July, aged 14.

Finn died earlier this year, aged 14

In January, Hertfordshire Police said an investigation was under way into PC Wardell's "conduct with regards to police dog welfare issues".

The force added that PC Wardell was put on restricted duties.

PC Wardell has now been contacted by Hertfordshire Police and it has found there is no case to answer, so the investigation is over.

He says he has also been told about the fate of two police dogs that were taken from him during the investigation.

Pearl retired, developed cancer and died. Hero-Diesel has been rehomed.

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Constabulary said: "As a public service we have an absolute duty to take action when allegations of police misconduct emerge and investigate thoroughly.

"This work is often complex and can be protracted and can lead to a case being proven or disproven against the officer in question.

"Either way the individual will be updated and any learning from the investigation is fed back to the individual and into the organisation where appropriate."