PC sacked for gross misconduct over daughter's driving case

The officer's daughter was pulled over in the early hours of 28 October

A police officer accused of pressing colleagues not to prosecute his daughter has been sacked.

The Avon and Somerset Police constable was accused of bullying two special constables after his daughter was caught using her phone while driving.

A tribunal panel concluded it was a case of operational integrity and it dismissed the officer without notice.

The panel chair said it was a "very sad case" which involved "disgraceful conduct over an hour or so".

Emma Nott accepted there were no concerns he would commit further aberrations, but said maintenance of public confidence was paramount.

The panel said the officer had shown outstanding qualities for more than 20 years and had an impressive record.

During the three-day tribunal, it heard the PC's daughter was pulled over by special constables James Fowler and Steve Jones at about 01:00 GMT on 28 October.

The officer, who cannot be named, told the misconduct hearing he wanted to know if his daughter would be getting a ticket because otherwise he would be disciplining her.

'Great integrity'

Summing up, the PC's lawyer said both special constables had recalled speaking a great deal to the officer that night and their accounts had become "intermingled and self-supporting".

He argued if the officer had been told his daughter would be charged "it would have brought the communication between them to an end".

But the panel chairwoman said he had tried to undermine the special constables to get them to "dispense with any summons".

Ch Insp Mark Edgington, deputy head of the force's professional standards department, said: "The public rightly expects our officers and staff to act with honesty and integrity at all times, no matter what situation they face, and this officer failed to live up to these fundamental requirements.

"Conversely, the two special constables involved in this incident acted with great integrity in difficult circumstances and demonstrated the values we expect from our staff."