PC who smelled of alcohol blamed cough medicine

A police officer who turned up to work smelling of alcohol blamed the cough mixture he said he had been "swigging" the night before.

PC Darren Hall was found to be more than double the alcohol limit to work at Banbury station in October 2023 and was taken home by a Thames Valley Police (TVP) colleague.

He said he took the cough medicine, drunk three large glasses of wine and half a pint of homemade cider and other painkillers the night before he went to work.

A panel found he had committed gross misconduct and he was given a three-year final written warning.

PC Hall was found to have 33 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. TVP said the limit for its staff is 13mg per 100ml of breath. The legal driving limit is 35mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Adam Keenaghan, for TVP, said PC Hall told the force that he had been "swigging [the medicine] during the night" and did not sleep much because of a cough.

A forensic toxicologist found PC Hall's "assumed drinking pattern [did] not account for the measured breath alcohol concentration".

They concluded that PC Hall "must have consumed more alcohol than has been assumed".

The officer, who has more than 20 years' service, admitted misconduct but denied gross misconduct.

The panel found PC Hall was "valued in the workplace by his supervisors and his peers alike" but that the length of final written warning would "serve as a deterrent to others".

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