PC who claimed Covid breach party was Facetime wedding barred

The panel heard Ms Matloob told a supervisor the party was actually her wedding being conducted via FaceTime

A PC who claimed a party which breached Covid-19 rules was actually her wedding being conducted via FaceTime committed gross misconduct, a panel has ruled.

A Greater Manchester Police (GMP) misconduct panel heard offciers discovered a party at Manisa Matloob's home in Oldham on 17 March 2021.

It heard she later provided a false certificate and told her supervisor only her family were present.

The panel ruled against her and banned her indefinitely from the police.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Ms Matloob, who resigned from the force in April, did not attend the online hearing and was not represented.

It said the panel was told officers found the halls of her home decorated and "a number of females" inside.

They heard Ms Matloob later told her supervisor it was an Islamic wedding ceremony which had been conducted via the video calling app and only her family were present.

She subsequently provided a marriage certificate to the professional standards department, which stated her wedding took place on that day, the hearing was told.

However, when questioned by police, the imam who conducted her wedding confirmed the ceremony took place elsewhere three days later.

Manisa Matloob did not attend the online misconduct hearing

At the time, weddings were only been allowed to take place in England in exceptional circumstances and receptions were banned under the government's Covid-19 restrictions.

Weddings were permitted again on 29 March and could be attended by up to six people.

The panel was also told Ms Matloob had claimed the wedding was brought forward because of her parent's poor health, but in fact, her mother only had a throat infection.

GMP solicitor Martin Forshaw said Ms Matloob's failure to provide a truthful account meant her actions amounted to a breach of professional behaviour standards.

He said many of her claims were "lies" and "untruths", which had implicated her husband and the imam and attempted to mislead officers.

The panel found all the allegations against her had been proven, she had breached the standards of professional behaviour and her actions amounted to gross misconduct.

The chair of the panel concluded that if she was "in service... we would have directed dismissal and it follows then that she would go on to the barred list".

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