Leicestershire Police officer misconduct over six-week absence

The officer would have been dismissed if she still worked for the force

A student Leicestershire Police officer missed six weeks of work without authorisation, a gross misconduct hearing found.

The unnamed ex-officer, who no longer works for the force, did not attend work between 31 October and 12 December last year.

She would have known she was being paid for work she was not doing, and this was dishonest, the hearing ruled.

The officer also tried to cover up her unauthorised absence.

The hearing was told the officer claimed she had been doing resource planning work and working on her university degree during that time, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

If she was still a serving police officer, she would have been dismissed from Leicestershire Police, the hearing concluded.

She has also been placed on a barred list, meaning she cannot be employed by a police force.

'Undermine public confidence'

Presiding over the hearing, Chief Constable Rob Nixon said: "It is clear the former officer knew that she should have been at work and hadn't sought the appropriate authority to be absent.

"It is also clear that she had sufficient time to ask for clarity if uncertain.

"The actions and behaviour displayed fell short of what the public and the force expect and would significantly undermine public confidence in our policing."

The former officer told the force the day before her unauthorised absence began that a family member had died, but she did not apply for compassionate leave.

Nor did she apply for what Leicestershire Police calls "protected study shifts" to allow her to complete her university work.

Mr Nixon said he was "sympathetic to the loss of her family member", but ruled that "on the balance of probability she was able to seek the correct authority" for being off work.

The former officer did not attend the hearing.