Devon and Cornwall Police officer put Homebase trip above emergency call

Det Supt Paul Kessell, head of professional standards, said "his behaviour brought discredit upon the police service"

A police officer who went to Homebase for a hot tub mat instead of attending an emergency call has been dismissed for gross misconduct.

The delay "could quite literally have made the difference between life and death", a Devon and Cornwall Police's misconduct panel concluded.

The hearing found that PC Tristan Hankins accepted an immediate deployment via his police radio, but rather than respond he went to Homebase.

He was dismissed without notice.

The one-day public hearing heard the officer had bought a hot tub for home use after his wife fell ill.

"But this had come with a missing part, the mat that went underneath it, so that water spilled on to the floor," the hearing was told.

The officer went to Homebase instead of attending the call about a distressed young woman

When he was on patrol on 2 June 2020 he got a call to attend an incident immediately to help a young woman with mental health difficulties who "was in a highly agitated condition and was threatening suicide," the hearing was told.

"However, instead of abandoning his planned trip to Homebase and setting off promptly to answer the call, using the emergency blue light on his car, he told [the] controller that he would be free to attend the emergency 'very very shortly' and proceeded to Homebase to collect his mat before answering the emergency," the hearing was told.

"That was plainly untrue. He therefore arrived at the scene of the incident somewhere between five and 10 minutes later than he would otherwise have done."

The hearing heard that "no actual harm was caused" to the distressed woman.

"The potential harm was considerable however," it was told.

"A young woman was in danger and she could have come to physical or mental harm as a result of his delay. It could quite literally have made the difference between life and death."

The hearing heard that the officer breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of "honesty and integrity, authority, respect and courtesy, discreditable conduct and duties and responsibilities".

Det Supt Paul Kessell, head of professional standards, said afterwards: "We expect our officers to uphold the standards of professional behaviour at all times and the actions of the officer fell below these standards on this occasion.

"He did not fulfil his duties and responsibilities and his behaviour brought discredit upon the police service and could undermine public confidence."

He added: "Such behaviour will not be tolerated within policing and the decision made by the panel was that the officer should be dismissed without notice."