Police officer who accidentally damaged car wing mirror guilty of gross misconduct

PC Jason Smith’s car door hit the wing mirror of a Mini, before he attended a training course at Melton Police Station in February 2023.

Humberside Police said he failed to report the incident, leave his contact details or make any attempt to find the owner.

Smith was found guilty of gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing and told he would have been dismissed if he had not resigned at an earlier date.

During an interview, he claimed the wind “whipped the door out his hand” and he strained his shoulder, but he did not see any damage on the wing mirror and he took a note of the car’s registration in case someone reported it.

CCTV footage shows the officer waited in his car for 20 minutes after the training course and then drove off.

Smith, who had served with the force for six years, apologised and said he should have left a note, but denied that he had deliberately concealed the damage.

However, a misconduct panel ruled it was “unlikely” that he would be unaware of the damage as it was “extremely obvious”.

In his ruling, the panel’s chair Nick Hawkins said: “The public have the right to expect all police officers to behave with honesty and integrity both on and off-duty.

“Former PC Smith was dishonest in not taking steps to check for damage, nor to report the damage, nor to seek to identify the owner of the vehicle. Such behaviour is discreditable and undermines public trust and confidence in policing.”

The officer said he was unable to attend the hearing in person as he was unwell, but “had every intention on being here and fighting for the truth”.