Police officer sacked for faking remote working

A "deceitful and dishonest" police sergeant has been sacked for holding down keys on her laptop with a picture frame to pretend she was working from home.

The Avon and Somerset police officer, referred to as Sergeant X for legal reasons, was dismissed without notice at a misconduct hearing on Wednesday.

Evidence found the officer, who was based at the force's HQ in Portishead, weighed down her keyboard intentionally during the majority of her shifts in April and May 2025.

Det Supt Larisa Hunt said: "While Sgt X had some mitigating circumstances, it's unacceptable for an officer to act in this deliberate and deceitful way by abusing the trust placed in her."

Panel chair Craig Holden ruled the officer had breached the standards of professional behaviour which amounted to gross misconduct.

She was barred from police and other law enforcement agencies.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the sergeant admitted using the corner of a picture frame to weigh down the keys so her computer would not go into sleep mode.

The hearing was told this allowed her to monitor calls on a separate screen during a time in which she suffered challenges in her personal life.

Sgt X said she was in fear of her position and accused a supervisor of wanting to remove her from the department.

But barrister Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the constabulary, said there was no evidence of this.

He told the misconduct panel: "If, as she claims, she was at all times working, she would have had no need to place a picture frame on the keyboard.

"The raw data shows she was not doing anything in the periods she was key-jamming."

He added: "She chose to take the dishonest route."

Ley-Morgan said further research during the investigation uncovered Sgt X had been weighing down keys as far back as November 2022 and throughout 2023.

Sgt X told the hearing: "This was not an act motivated by personal gain, corruption or an intention to undermine the organisation or the public.

"I feel deep sorrow and genuine remorse for the position I have placed the organisation, my colleagues and myself in.

"I understand it could have been seen as dishonest but I did not act in a dishonest way."

Hunt, the force's head of professional standards department, added: "It is extremely disappointing an officer has behaved in a way which could not only discredit the police force but also undermine the public confidence in respect of our duties and responsibilities.

"We recognise the overwhelming majority of our officers and staff work hard to protect the public."

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.