A Wiltshire Police firearms instructor who lied about giving mandatory training has been sacked.
PC Mat Hodge told his line managers that armed officers had completed an important refresher course on more than one occasion early this year, a misconduct hearing found.
The corrupt instructor said the officers could be signed off as having done the training at the Blackrock Specialist Training Centre, but the alarm was soon raised and an investigation launched.
During a hearing at Wiltshire Police HQ on 1 and 2 October, chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Deb Smith, the allegations against PC Hodge were proven.
As a result, it was found he breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour for police officers of honesty and integrity, Duties and Responsibilities and Discreditable Conduct.
He was dismissed without notice for gross misconduct and placed on the national barred list, which means he will not be able to work in policing in the future.
Deputy Chief Constable Craig Dibdin said “PC Hodge’s actions were far below the standards expected of him and could have had potentially serious consequences.
“Thankfully, his failure to deliver the required training to his colleagues was uncovered extremely quickly and all those impacted have been provided with the refresher training they needed as part of their role.
“We expect, and our communities expect, nothing but the highest standards of honesty and integrity from our officers, staff and volunteers and we will continue to root out those that, through their actions, seek to undermine the trust and confidence our communities place in us.
“I’d like to thank those that came forward to provide evidence as part of this case.
“It takes courage to report wrongdoing but it is essential in ensuring that we are able to ensure we have only the highest possible standards within our organisation.
“We encourage all members of our organisation to report behaviour to us that falls short of the high level of professionalism that we set and that the public rightly expect of us”.
