South Wales Police officer caught with cocaine banned from force

A hearing at South Wales Police HQ was told trainee Alex Jones was caught with cocaine

A police officer caught with cocaine has quit his job to avoid being kicked off the force.

Trainee Alex Jones was found with the class A drug on a night out in Haverfordwest, in Pembrokeshire.

Undercover officers arrested the 24-year-old after spotting him holding a bag of white powder and a credit card.

A misconduct hearing on Thursday was told the South Wales Police PC's behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and he was banned from policing.

After his arrest, at 23:50 BST on 11 November 2023, he was taken to Cardigan police station, in Ceredigion, for questioning.

The hearing, at South Wales Police headquarters in Bridgend, was told a friend of Mr Jones', from Carmarthenshire, had bought the cocaine that night, but the off-duty officer did not intervene to stop them.

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Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan told the hearing the actions of the South Wales Police trainee officer had damaged the reputation of the police.

"It is entirely unacceptable for officers who enforce the law to break it," he said.

He added: "Organised criminals need customers to operate. You cannot take Class A drugs without realising the levels of harm and violence which are involved in this crime.

"Former PC Alex Jones has lined the pockets of those who torment our communities."

He said Mr Jones behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and that he would have been sacked had he not resigned this week.