PC who flipped car onto roof sacked

A police officer who flipped a patrol car onto its roof was sacked after a panel found she made up a claim that an animal ran into its path.

PC Charlotte Morris, who worked for Thames Valley Police (TVP), had hit a parked BMW in Eton Wick, Berkshire, on 27 August 2023, causing that vehicle "relatively minor damage".

But the panel found she "simply drifted" the police car into the BMW and her claim that she was avoiding an animal was untrue.

Last February, she admitted an offence of careless driving, got five penalty points on her licence and was told to pay a £266 fine, £90 costs and a £106 victim surcharge by Swindon magistrates.

As she was treated at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough after the crash, she said a fox or a badger had caused her to swerve the car.

Ms Morris was in the car with a fellow officer but neither suffered any lasting injuries.

She suffered minor head injuries and a back injury, which required a short course of physiotherapy, TVP said.

The accident had also had a "severe impact…in terms of injuries and stress" on her, the panel found.

But it said Ms Morris' lie about the animal was an example of "operational dishonesty" and gross misconduct.

It said it "regretted" that she would be sacked but that it was the least serious outcome that it could pass given TVP's misconduct rules.

It said "if the public knew about the actions of this officer in deliberately lying to avoid or reduce the negative consequences" of the accident, it "would have a very serious negative effect on public confidence in policing."

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