Police officer sacked for stealing 40p carrier bags from Sainsbury’s

A volunteer police officer has lost his job after he failed to pay for carrier bags worth £1.20 from a supermarket.

Luke Hodgson, who was a special constable at West Mercia Police, was found to have deliberately failed to pay for bags belonging to his other employer Sainsbury's at a disciplinary hearing held by the retailer, which dismissed him for gross misconduct.

The bags cost 40p each and the thefts took place three times in the space of 12 days last year in December.

Mr Hodgson then faced an accelerated misconduct hearing about his policing role where he was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour for honesty, integrity, and discreditable conduct.

The hearing was chaired by Chief Constable Richard Cooper in July, who found Mr Hodgson “acted dishonestly” and committed theft, “which fundamentally undermines his ability to function as a police officer”.

While Mr Hodgson claimed that he had inadvertently failed to pay for the bags, Mr Cooper found that he knew payment was required and chose not to make it as he had received training on the self-service tills that were used in the respective transactions.

He told the hearing that Mr Hodgson’s dishonesty was made even more clear by the fact there were occasions where he paid for bags properly, including one instance at the end of a late shift.

Mr Hodgson repaid the money and fully co-operated with the investigation, the hearing heard, and he had no previous recorded matters of concern during his brief service.

In his judgement, Mr Cooper acknowledged that the financial loss to Sainsbury’s was low, but there was some harm caused to his former employer because police officers were expected to act honestly due to the reliance on reliable testimony in the gathering of evidence.

“The public expect nothing more from the police service than for them to be trustworthy,” he said.

Mr Cooper concluded of Mr Hodgson’s conduct: “This is not compatible with the high standards of integrity that are required of the service.”

Mr Hodgson was dismissed without notice as Mr Cooper found his actions brought the police service into disrepute. He was subsequently added to the barred list held by the College of Policing.