Greater Manchester PC barred over fake mum death claims

Melissa Hodson's actions have damaged public confidence in the police, a misconduct hearing was told

A police officer who lied about her mother's death to get time off work has been told she will never be employed by the service again.

Melissa Hodson told Greater Manchester Police she needed leave to visit her ill mother in hospital.

She later told colleagues her mother had died but a professional standards investigation has found her claims were false.

Hodson resigned last year after admitting gross misconduct.

Bury PC Hodson used the ruse to get time off work from May to September 2021 and also claimed her mother had been burgled, police said.

But a misconduct hearing was told she had made it all up.

'Deliberate and persistent'

Hodson admitted her actions amounted to gross misconduct in a letter submitted prior to the accelerated misconduct hearing held on 7 September.

Chief Constable Stephen Watson ruled she would have been dismissed had she not resigned, calling her conduct "morally reprehensible'".

He added: "She made a series of untrue statements to her supervision - culpability in this case is high, her actions were deliberate and persistent.

"Her actions bring the profession into disrepute and inevitably damage public confidence in policing.

"It also damages the trust colleagues have in each other - that trust has been irretrievably shattered."

Hodson, who had been on restricted duties from February 2022 until her resignation in July that year, has also been added to the College of Policing Barred List.

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