A former police officer lied about needing to look after his children so he could take time off work after a night of drinking.

Former Police Constable Ashleigh Frith, who used to be based in Aylesbury before he resigned from the force, was found guilty of gross misconduct at a police misconduct hearing in January.

The hearing panel found that former PC Frith lied to his line manager about looking after his children, and even fabricated a story about his ex-partner accidentally scalding his child with hot water to get out of going to work.

The panel, which was led by legally qualified chair Derek Marshall, heard how on January 17, 2020, former PC Frith lied about not being able to attend for duty because he was caring for one of his children while his ex-partner was at hospital with their other child.

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Former PC Frith told his line manager, Police Sergeant McFarlane, that his ex-partner was responsible for a scalding accident that had put his child in hospital.

In a text to PS McFarlane, former PC Frith said: “Bloody ex Mrs left hot water on the side and she’s gone and tried to grab it off the side and poured it down herself.”

The panel found that this was a complete fabrication, with the hospital confirming that his child had not been seen that day, and former PC Frith’s ex-partner found innocent of any wrongdoing.

The hearing also heard that on June 6, 2021, former PC Frith again used his children as an excuse for not appearing for duty.

He had claimed to PS McFarlane that he was looking after his children, but an investigation found that the children’s grandparents were looking after them that day.

The panel found that the reason he did not show up for duty was that he had drunk too much on a night out the previous evening – where he was spotted by colleagues.

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In his report from the hearing, Mr Marshall said: “The real reason for his non-attendance for duty, which we find as a fact, is that he had consumed too much alcohol the previous evening in a pub or pubs in Aylesbury, where by coincidence he was seen by other officers who had been called to attend an unrelated incident.”

The panel heard how PS McFarlane had become suspicious about former PC Frith’s truthfulness after repeated absences from work.

After assessing the evidence before them, the panel found former PC Frith had committed gross misconduct, meaning he would have been dismissed without notice had he not already resigned as a serving officer in August 2021.

In his report, Mr Marshall said: “If you cannot trust the police who can you trust?

"We as a Panel will not tolerate deliberate liars in the police service.

"The nature of the central lie – that some harm had come to one of Mr Frith’s children – was in our view particularly serious because it could have led to his former partner facing a wholly unjustified investigation into her care of the family.

"We therefore record that each of the proven allegations amount to gross misconduct in that it is that is behaviour that could lead to a decision that he would have been dismissed without notice were he still a serving officer.”

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