A retired traffic police officer who claimed he tested a breathalyser on himself after eating a Christmas mince pie to see if it would have any effect on his blood alcohol level has had allegations of gross misconduct against him proven. An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation also found that former PC Julian John had an "inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable woman".
A hearing heard he had carried out two negative breath tests on himself and then recorded them falsely as tests on members of the public in a bid to inflate figures. At a disciplinary hearing held by South Wales Police it was determined that former officer would have been dismissed had he not already retired form the force in March this year.
The hearing followed an IOPC investigation which began in February 2020 after they received a referral from the force regarding an allegation the officer had formed an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable woman he had met through the course of duties. During the course of the investigation they interviewed the police officer and examined his mobile phone where they found flirtatious text messages sent by PC John to the woman, from his work mobile, over a nine-month period. There was also evidence that he had stayed at her property overnight on at least one occasion.
The IOPC report said that at the end of the investigation in January 2021 they found the officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct. The hearing also heard that on a date in mid-December 2019, apparently to meet internal targets for individual roads policing officers, the officer carried out the two negative breath tests on himself and recorded them falsely.
In interview he said he tested the device on himself because he was curious to see if a Christmas mince pie he had eaten earlier would have had any effect on his blood alcohol level. The panel found the explanation to be “wholly implausible” and that it was more likely than not that his conduct was a "conscious attempt to inflate his breath test figures during a Christmas anti-drink and drugs driving campaign".
At the conclusion of the hearing, overseen by an independent legally-qualified chair, the panel decided that the retired officer had breached the standards of professional behaviour and would have been dismissed had he not already left the force. IOPC director David Ford said: "The police hold a fundamental role to help the people they serve – not exploit them. Abuse of position to target and seek to form a relationship with a vulnerable woman is taken extremely seriously in our investigations and such behaviour only serves to undermine public trust in policing. In addition to the inappropriate relationshi, PC John was an experienced roads policing officer so he would be only too aware that submitting false breath tests was entirely inappropriate, breaching the professional standards of honesty and integrity.
"We all have a right to expect police officers to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and the outcome of the hearing demonstrates that those who fail to do so will be held to account." Former PC John will now also be placed on the police-barred list.
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