A drunken cop who made an off-duty 999 call mistakenly claiming he had been assaulted by a bouncer after being booted out of a nightclub has been sacked.
PC Liam Simonet of West Yorkshire Police later updated the police log with misleading information in an attempt to 'shut down any investigation into his embarrassing conduct', an investigation by West Yorkshire Police found.
The officer claimed he had tried to intervene in a drug deal at a Halifax nightclub in the early hours of May 13, 2022. A misconduct panel heard how PC Simonet not been punched by door staff or pushed downstairs, but had genuinely felt this had happened at the time he made the 999 call, reports YorkshireLive.
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PC Simonet told the hearing that he was intoxicated to a degree that it impaired his ability to make properly informed decisions and that his level of intoxication was "8, on a scale of 1-10." The misconduct panel found that the officer was not dishonest in the reporting of the incident in the 999 call but made a 'genuine mistake' in recording that he had been punched three times in the face and pushed downstairs.
The panel heard evidence that the officer had updated the police log the following day by making inaccurate and misleading statements.
The updated log stated: "No need for an appointment, I will sort this out myself. Unknown who the people were dealing. No CCTV and Yes I am a victim to an assault but no injuries, not in the public interest to pursue, please close the log. Task the niche to me and I will get rid of it. I am still off duty and logged in via my device to update this, if anyone need [sic] to contact me."
According to the panel, the officer updated the log in a way that sought to mislead by suggesting that reasonable lines of enquiry had either been pursued, or there was no need to do so, "in order to shut down any investigation into his embarrassing conduct." The panel was told that PC Simonet was well-respected by colleagues.
It said he was an experienced response officer of around two and a half years. "The Panel has received several testimonials on behalf of the Officer. They are impressive and show that he is a well-respected and much-valued officer by colleagues across different ranks."
The panel chairman, Karimulla Khan, said: "Overall, the Panel finds that only dismissal without notice is the appropriate outcome in this case to reflect the seriousness of the misconduct and to protect the public."
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