Police officer Denim Wade denies avoiding self-isolation

Reading Police Station was one of the largest in Europe when it was built 40 years ago

A police officer misled colleagues about contact with a suspect who later tested positive for coronavirus, a disciplinary tribunal has heard.

PC Denim Wade is accused of altering an email after being involved in the arrest of a shoplifting suspect in Reading in November 2020.

The Thames Valley Police hearing was told he had been "desperate" to avoid a second period of self-isolation.

The officer denies gross misconduct and said he followed instructions.

The hearing was told PC Wade had helped detain a suspected shoplifter on 25 November 2020, transported him in a police car and conducted a body search.

The suspect later tested positive while in Bullingdon Prison.

The constable is accused of playing down the extent of "close contact" which would have meant having to self-isolate under police guidelines at the time.

Giving evidence, PC Wade's supervising officer Insp James Tribe said he had initially told him in WhatsApp messages that he did not need to self isolate, but later informed him he had been "overruled" and that he would have to take time off.

In a WhatsApp message to Insp Tribe, PC Wade said he had worn full PPE and had adhered to social distancing during the encounter with the suspect.

His account said he had pinned the suspect for "a split second", but prosecutors said this was "far from accurate" from evidence recorded on his body worn camera.

Insp Tribe said during a phone conversation PC Wade appeared "desperate" to avoid self isolation because of pressures in his home life.

He told the panel PC Wade previously had to self-isolate in October 2020 when a colleague tested positive and that he "didn't object" to the instruction at the time.

'Understood risks'

Giving evidence, PC Wade denied acting dishonesty and said he "followed the instructions he was given".

"I fully understood the risks of Covid ... I had no issue with self-isolating," he told the panel.

"I never showed any inkling to go against the guidance - I was frustrated it took a long time to come to a decision over a relatively simple incident."

He said the arrest had been "routine" so his memory of it six days later was "very unclear".

Prosecutors also maintained PC Wade "made up" the time of the suspect's test as being several hours later than it was, in order to be outside the timeframe necessitating self-isolation.

He is alleged to have falsified an email from the prison stating the suspect was tested at 14:24 instead of 10:10.

He said he had contacted the prison to clarify the time of the suspect's test, but had "mistyped" in forwarding the email.

"It was only my intention to reiterate the information I'd been told by Bullingdon to my superiors," he told the panel.

PC Wade, who joined the force full time in 2018 said his career "meant everything" to him.

The hearing continues.