A Wiltshire police officer who repeatedly manipulated her computer keyboard to appear as though she was working while at home would have been dismissed had she still been serving, a misconduct panel has ruled.
Former PC Lauren Fairley was the subject of a police misconduct hearing held at Wiltshire Police headquarters in Devizes on 15 and 16 June. The panel found all 13 allegations against her proven and concluded that her actions amounted to gross misconduct.
As Fairley resigned from the force in January 2026, the outcome was that she “would have been dismissed had she still been serving”. Her name will also be added to the police barred list, meaning she won’t be able to work in policing again.
The hearing heard that Fairley, who was working in the Domestic Abuse Safeguarding Team and authorised to work from home, manipulated her keyboard on 12 separate days between July and August 2025.
According to the findings, she repeatedly pressed keys or used objects on her keyboard to create the impression that she was actively working when she was not. In some cases, more than 200,000 key presses were recorded.
The panel noted that all officers and staff had previously been warned in a force-wide email that keyboard manipulation was unacceptable and could amount to gross misconduct. Fairley accepted responsibility for the keyboard manipulation and expressed regret for her actions.
The hearing was told she had been struggling after twice failing the National Investigators’ Examination and was concerned about her future as a detective after being moved from the Child Abuse Investigation Team to the Domestic Abuse Safeguarding Team.
Her representative said she had used working time to study in the hope of being allowed to resit the exam and had offered to repay the force for hours she had not worked, either through annual leave or salary deductions.
The hearing also examined an allegation that Fairley covertly recorded a meeting with her supervisor, Detective Sergeant Emma Cook, on her personal mobile phone on Thursday 3 July 2025.
The panel found the recording included sensitive information relating to active investigations and personal matters. It concluded the recording lacked integrity and breached force policies governing the use of personal devices for police information.
When considering the outcome, the panel also took into account Fairley’s early admissions, apologies, previous good conduct record, an Assistant Chief Constable’s commendation and positive performance reviews during her service.
However, it found her conduct was intentional and deliberate. The panel said she had abused the trust placed in her while working with minimal supervision and that her actions had the potential to affect vulnerable domestic abuse victims awaiting contact from police.
The panel determined that the only outcome capable of maintaining public confidence, upholding professional standards and protecting the public was a finding that Fairley would have been dismissed had she remained a serving officer.
The former police officer has since started a new role as a neighbourhood officer at a housing association, Wiltshire 999s understands.
