A former police constable convicted twice for drink-driving would have been dismissed had he not already resigned.
Former PC Jakub Lewandowski was off duty when he was stopped by officers in the early hours of Sunday, 31 August this year, on Wollaton Road, Nottingham.
He failed a roadside breath test and was later found to have a reading of 90 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
The legal limit is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath.
He was arrested, charged, and released on bail.
Mr Lewandowski was stopped again in Ilkeston in the early hours of 19 September – the same day he was due in court for the first offence.
On that occasion, he recorded an evidential reading of 82 micrograms of alcohol.
A misconduct hearing held at Force Headquarters on Monday, 15 December, heard that Mr Lewandowski accepted that his conduct amounted to gross misconduct.
In a statement read in his absence, he expressed his “sincere and unreserved regret” for his actions, which he admitted had the potential to undermine confidence in the police service.
He explained that at the time he was experiencing a number of significant personal issues that led him to behave in ways that were out of character.
A panel chaired by Temporary Chief Constable Steve Cooper ruled that Mr Lewandowski’s actions did amount to gross misconduct and that he would have been dismissed without notice had he not already resigned.
Temporary Chief Constable Steve Cooper said:
“As an organisation we invest a lot of time and effort into explaining the dangers of drink-driving to the public.
“That’s because we regularly see the devastating impact this behaviour can have on other road users, pedestrians, and even on offenders themselves.
“It is, then, wholly unacceptable for any member of Nottinghamshire Police to behave in this way.
“As this former officer has now admitted, his actions had the potential to undermine public confidence in policing and, by extension, in his former colleagues.
“That is an extremely serious matter that could only be addressed by a finding of gross misconduct and his formal dismissal from the organisation.”
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