Sussex Police officer dismissed for dishonesty

A police officer has been dismissed without notice after an investigation found he had falsely claimed that he had not been informed that overtime duties on a policing operation had been cancelled.

Police Sergeant David Tritton, 45, who was based on East Sussex division, appeared before a misconduct hearing held at Sussex Police headquarters in May in front of a panel led by an Independent Legally Qualified Chair (LQC). The hearing was part heard and adjourned until 31 July for the outcome and sanction to be determined.

LQCs are selected from a list of independent, legally-qualified persons to conduct police misconduct hearings, and are governed by Police Conduct Regulations. LQCs work with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and others to instil and embed transparency and proportionality into misconduct hearings.

The hearing was told that the officer was informed in an online message that a policing operation he was due to work on had been cancelled and that he and his colleagues were to revert back to normal duty hours. It showed he had read the message shortly after it was sent.

In the early hours the following day, Sgt Tritton replied to an email to his line manager and duties team advising them that he was still at the police station as he had not been informed that the operation had been cancelled and asked the hours he had been on duty to be reflected on his time sheet.

The panel found the officer’s actions had breached Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity and his conduct amounted to gross misconduct. He was dismissed without notice and placed on the National College of Policing barred list which prevents him from working for any police forces in the future.

Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme, deputy head of the force’s Professional Standards Department, said: "We expect our officers to act with the utmost integrity, and in accordance with the Code of Ethics and the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

"The actions of this officer in this case fell short of the standards we expect, which is reflected in the findings by the panel."