Police officer dismissed for pretending to work from home

A police officer was dismissed for pressing keys on his picture-framed laptop while pretending to be working from home.

The Avon and Somerset police officer, whose anonymity has been confirmed and referred to as Sergeant X, was dismissed without notice at a gross misconduct hearing in Portishead, near Bristol, on Wednesday.

He was banned from entering the police and other law enforcement agencies.

The panel heard that data used by Avon and Somerset Police’s Professional Standards Department found PS X keystrokes were significantly higher in 2024, leading to an investigation launched in June that year.

Evidence found across most of the shifts Sergeant X worked in April and May 2025 showed his keystrokes were three to eight times higher than those of colleagues in a similar role.

Sgt.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Sergeant X said he was afraid of his position and accused a superior of wanting to remove him from the department. But lawyer Mark Ley-Morgan said there was no evidence of this.

The chairman of the misconduct panel, former Deputy Chief Constable Craig Holden, found his behavior amounted to gross misconduct.

Det Supt Larisa Hunt, head of Avon and Somerset Police’s Professional Standards Department, said: “It is extremely disappointing that a police officer would act in a way that not only brings the police force into disrepute but also undermines public confidence in our duties and responsibilities.

“We know that officers and staff deal with intense pressure and high workloads and, although Sergeant

“We recognize that the overwhelming majority of our officers and staff work hard to protect the public.”