A GWENT Police inspector has been sacked following a gross misconduct hearing.

The man - referred to as 'Officer A' after the hearing panel chaired by Emma Boothroyd refused to name him - faced a number of allegations relating to his professional behaviour at the hearing at Gwent Police headquarters in Cwmbran.

The panel decided to dismiss Officer A without notice, after concluding the allegations amounted to gross misconduct.

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“The dishonesty was sustained over a number of days and involved a number of different individuals,” concluded the panel. “The untruths were numerous and involved seeking to blame others who Officer A was aware were acting correctly and doing their job.

“Officer A had several opportunities to explain the true position but chose to maintain the lies he had already told and add further untruths.

“The panel decided the only option was dismissal without notice.”

During the hearing, Officer A admitted to driving without insurance, MOT certificate and a vehicle excise licence, but argued this did not amount to acting “dishonestly and without integrity.”

“I’m horrified I didn’t have car insurance but I genuinely believed I did,” they said.

The panel decided that, as Officer A’s previous insurance had automatically renewed, he did not knowingly drive without insurance.

However, they noted driving without insurance, MOT or tax on the vehicle was a breach in standards.

The panel decided the allegation of producing his warrant card to the uniformed officer when he was stopped in order to influence his actions was not proved.

Officer A said he had produced their warrant card to identify himself as a police officer, meaning he would not be driving an uninsured car, and would not be any trouble for the uniformed officer.

He accepted it was a “clumsy way” to identify himself, but maintained he did not mean to try to influence the uniformed officer.

The panel noted there was nothing to show in the uniformed officer’s body camera footage that Officer A was attempting to influence him.

The allegation of abandoning a vehicle in a church car park for around weeks without consent, and without leaving contact details, causing an obstruction and inconvenience to legitimate users of the car park was accepted.

Officer A had previously admitted to lying about his phone not being in his possession and thereby suggesting he could not have seen missed calls or received voicemails, lying to his supervisor, and suggesting to a detective chief inspector he had sent a report when they he not.

The panel found the allegations amounted to gross misconduct.

During the four-day hearing, Ms Boothroyd placed an anonymity order on Officer A, adding that she "was under no obligation to say why."