Police officer flew to Turkey after calling in sick

A police officer flew to Turkey for a holiday on the same day that he reported sick for duty, a misconduct panel has heard.

Raja Khan, of Leicestershire Police, reported sick on 5 October while on a rest day, two days before his next shift, before flying to Istanbul that same evening.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said suspicions had been raised after PC Khan reported sick, with police waiting for him when his plane landed back at Stansted Airport on 11 October.

A disciplinary hearing ruled PC Khan, who resigned in February, would have been dismissed had he still been serving.

The IOPC said PC Khan had been contacted by his line manager on 8 October and he replied by text, saying he was too ill to work.

He was given a sickness form to complete.

PC Khan then got a third party to access his laptop at home to submit the sickness form on his behalf and send a confirmation email to his line manager, the IOPC added.

After police met him at Stansted, PC Khan was arrested before being interviewed under caution, but a decision was made not to consider criminal charges.

The hearing, held on Wednesday, concluded Mr Khan had breached the standards of police professional behaviour for honesty and integrity, confidentiality, orders and instructions, and discreditable conduct.

Leicestershire Police Chief Constable Rob Nixon said: "This gross misconduct severely undermines the standards and reputation of the police service.

"Former PC Khan deliberately misled the force and his colleagues and also compromised the security of information on police systems."

IOPC director of operations Steve Noonan added: "[PC Khan] was dishonest about his absence from work and compounded that by allowing an unauthorised person to access his police laptop.

"Such conduct has no place in policing and he will now be placed on the barred list, preventing him from future employment with the service."