Sussex Police officer sacked after falsely claiming overtime
He said that an operation he'd due to work on had been cancelled
A Sussex Police officer who lied to colleagues in a bid to claim extra overtime has been dismissed without notice.
Police Sergeant David Tritton, who is 45 and was based in East Sussex, had told officers that he wasn't told that overtime duties on an operation he had been working on had been cancelled.
The ruling was handed down on Wednesday (July 31st) following a misconduct hearing at the force's Lewes headquarters, which had been adjourned from May.
The hearing was told that the officer was informed in an online message that a policing operation he was due to work on had been cancelled and that he and his colleagues were to revert back to normal duty hours. It showed he had read the message shortly after it was sent.
In the early hours the following day, Sgt Tritton replied to an email to his line manager and duties team advising them that he was still at the police station as he had not been informed that the operation had been cancelled and asked the hours he had been on duty to be reflected on his time sheet.
The panel found the officer’s actions had breached Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity and his conduct amounted to gross misconduct. He was dismissed without notice and placed on the National College of Policing barred list which prevents him from working for any police forces in the future.
Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme, deputy head of the Sussex Police's Professional Standards Department said:
"We expect our officers to act with the utmost integrity, and in accordance with the Code of Ethics and the Standards of Professional Behaviour.
"The actions of this officer in this case fell short of the standards we expect, which is reflected in the findings by the panel."