PC Timothy Mason attended a misconduct hearing at Force Headquarters which concluded yesterday evening (18 December).
The hearing heard the police constable was rostered to work on 14 July last year but never showed up for his shift.
Having put in an annual leave request several months earlier, he was informed then that it had only been partially approved.
That owed to the fact that one of those days – 14 July – was not approved, due to it coinciding with the UEFA Euro 2024 final.
The officer raised this with his line manager and – believing it to have been approved – went on to book a family holiday.
No approval had been agreed, however, with his line manager instead emailing him to establish further justification to support the request.
PC Mason claimed he’d not seen these emails though and had therefore made an honest mistake by going on the holiday as planned.
The officer accepted his actions amounted to a breach of professional standards but denied any breach, in respect of honesty and integrity.
The misconduct hearing’s panel, chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Gary Hooks, found he’d breached the standards of professional behaviour – specifically duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct – but not to the level of gross misconduct.
His actions were, however, deemed to amount to misconduct, with the officer given a written warning as a result.
Following the hearing, ACC Hooks said:
“PC Mason is an officer who is passionate about public service and has a commendable service record. Being a response police officer is a demanding role, so it is important for our colleagues to have well deserved rest and recuperation.
“However, his regard to personal administration let him and the service down on this occasion, which he acknowledges.
“This incident should serve as a timely reminder to all officers about the importance of reviewing and responding to emails and to double check the status of leave requests prior to booking holiday.
“More than adequate notice was given that 14 July 2024 was going to be a restricted leave day – owing to the additional workload that was likely to be generated that day.
“This officer really ought to have known his annual leave request had been refused and should’ve attended duty – points that were emphasised to him throughout this hearing.”
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