Ex-Leicestershire Police officer lied about drone crash, hearing rules

A former police officer lied three times about damage caused in a drone crash, a misconduct hearing has ruled.

Kenneth Fricker, who has left Leicestershire Police, was flying the drone at the scene of an accident on the M6 at Catthorpe on 14 October.

While flying the drone, he crashed and damaged it due to his handling.

Mr Fricker then subsequently lied to three colleagues about how the drone came to be damaged, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The hearing also heard the drone's footage had been deleted and "on the balance of probabilities" this showed "intent to cover up the original incident".

It was ruled the dishonesty amounted to gross misconduct and Mr Fricker would have been dismissed without notice, had he still been working for the force.

Chief Constable Rob Nixon, who chaired last week's hearing, said: "The actions of former PC Fricker fell below the standards which are expected of police officers and amounted to gross misconduct.

"His actions undermined the relationship and trust with his colleagues and compromised the integrity of records.

"This placed a fellow drone pilot in a situation where they may have needed to deploy a drone with undisclosed damage."

Mr Fricker, who had been a police officer at the force for 20 years, had submitted a written statement ahead of the hearing admitting his actions and expressing remorse for them, the LDRS added.

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