PC sacked over lost bullet at Buckingham Palace

An armed royal protection officer who lied about losing a bullet in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and covered it up for eight days has been sacked.

Stephen Cotgreave was on foot patrol alone in the palace gardens on 6 December 2022 when he accidentally dropped the magazine - the part of the gun that holds or stores bullets before they are fired - from his firearm.

He picked up the magazine and placed it back inside the gun, but when he returned the firearm to the armoury at the end of his shift an hour later, one round of ammunition was missing.

The officer, who was 48 at the time, was asked if he could explain the missing bullet, but he said he could not and denied dropping the magazine.

The incident, which was captured on CCTV, "should have led to an immediate and full search of the area" and posed a risk to the welfare of the royal household, a misconduct hearing heard on Monday.

It happened the day a protester had thrown an egg at the King during a walkabout in Luton, Bedfordshire.

Unyime Davies, on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, told the panel sitting at the Empress State Building in west London: "As a result of PC Cotgreave's short round, all the magazines were emptied and a thorough account was conducted, and the loading bay was searched.

"Asked if at any point the magazine dropped from the weapon, PC Cotgreave still denied any knowledge of how the round went missing."

PC Cotgreave, based in the Metropolitan Police's Royalty and Specialist Protection, recovered the missing bullet eight days later, on 14 December, at the same location he first dropped the magazine.

The officer went to the control room of Buckingham Palace, where he admitted that he had dropped the magazine, explaining that he had felt "stupid, ashamed and embarrassed" since the incident.

It was then alleged that, in failing to admit to the incident on 8 December, the officer breached the force's standards of professional behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity.

In a statement dated 14 December, he admitted dishonesty and misconduct but denied gross misconduct, arguing that he had panicked and acted in a "moment of madness".

Nicholas Yeo, defending Mr Cotgreave, told the misconduct hearing he accepted the serious matter but added that it was set against 24 years of unblemished service.

Harry Ireland KC, chairman of the panel, said: "We find the culpability in this matter to be high as there was a deliberate course of conduct by the officer which posed a risk to the welfare of the public and the royal household."

The panel found Mr Cotgreave had committed an "abuse of trust, particularly as working in the royal household", and because he had been "concealing wrongdoing for eight days and lying to fellow officers on three occasions" about the incident.

Mr Cotgreave, who shook his head as the panel's verdict was returned, was dismissed with immediate effect for gross misconduct at the end of the hearing.