A police constable who helped himself to at least seven full English breakfasts at his work canteen without paying has been banned from the force.
Jamie Larman stole the fry-ups within 11 days of starting his training as an officer with Thames Valley Police in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.
He even boasted to fellow trainees that he was not allowed free meals because he lived less than 20 miles away from the training centre.
Larman resigned from the force after being challenged by colleagues and reported to the professional standards department.
At a virtual misconduct hearing last week he was found to have “breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity”.
He admitted his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and was added to the College of Policing’s banned list, which prevents him from working with any other force.
“On numerous occasions he ‘de facto’ stole from TVP (Thames Valley Police) in the form of breakfasts from Sulhamstead Canteen,” said chief constable John Campbell, who chaired the disciplinary panel.
“He did this in the full knowledge that he was not entitled to such free food and was breaching force policy. Moreover he had previously been warned about such behaviour whilst training as a PCSO.”
Larman, who lived in Abingdon, claimed that he joined his fellow trainees for breakfast ahead of training in order to “build rapport” with colleagues.
However CC Campbell described this as “nonsense”, adding: “He could still have fulfilled this objective by paying for his own food and not stealing from TVP. It was not a ‘mistake’ as he suggests, it was wilful and dishonest. He has no place in TVP.”
Larman began training as a police constable on 26 January and ate at least seven full English breakfasts between 29 and 6 February. On one occasion he was heard to say: I’m not entitled to this, but I should be, I only live just inside the boundary.”
The panel concluded that he would have been dismissed from the force if he had not resigned on 10 February.
