Officer asked doorman to give friend's drugs back

An off-duty police sergeant tried to trick a doorman into handing back a packet of cocaine he had confiscated from the officer's friend, a misconduct panel heard.

Sgt Steven Smith was out in Liverpool city centre on a stag night when his friend was searched by security staff at Soho bar in Concert Square on 24 August 2023.

The Merseyside Police officer produced his warrant card and claimed there was an operation to "test" the venue, repeatedly asking for the bag of white powder back.

Mr Smith resigned ahead of a misconduct hearing but was found guilty of gross misconduct and would have been sacked had he remained on the force.

The independent disciplinary panel heard Mr Smith told the doorman that the packet of white powder was "fake drugs" and the bar had "passed the test".

However the door staff stated the packet would be placed in a strong box to be collected by licensing officers from Merseyside Police.

The white powder was later tested and found to contain cocaine.

Mr Smith did not attend the hearing after handing in his resignation, but had outlined his defence in earlier proceedings.

He claimed he had been playing drinking games with friends which involved a forfeit of salt being poured into the loser's drink, and that he believed the packet contained salt his friend had brought for the game.

In a written judgment, the panel rejected Mr Smith's version of events and concluded he had "abused his position of trust".

They said: "The officer was a sergeant and therefore someone who should have been setting an example to other officers.

"By producing his warrant card Sgt Smith put himself on duty and sought to exercise his police powers in bad faith for the benefit of his friend."

The ruling means Mr Smith will be placed on the College of Policing barred list and is prohibited from working in a policing role again.

Det Ch Supt Sabi Kaur, head of professional standards at the force, said: “I hope that the result of the hearing sends a clear message that we simply will not tolerate this type of behaviour from our officers and staff."

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