Sting operation carried out to catch copper taking TOILET ROLL

Anti corruption officers carried out a sting operation to catch an officer taking toilet rolls from her own station, a misconduct panel heard yesterday.

After a cleaner reported items missing, loo rolls were coated with an invisible dye which only shows up under a UV light.

One roll was found in the car of PC Julie Smith, the panel heard. Ms Smith, an officer for more than 20 years, is now accused gross misconduct.

The panel heard other loo rolls - which are larger than domestic ones - were found at her home and one in the boot of a car belonging to a relative. She is accused of taking the items from a locked dispenser three times in 2023.

When she was arrested Ms Smith said she had taken one to clean a spill in her car. She said she had taken others as she had a condition which caused her to sneeze a lot and needed to carry toilet roll around with her.

Solicitor Liz Briggs said the allegations may seem 'fairly minor' but involved a police officer who was serving at the time.

'It does not matter what it is that is being taken it's the manner in which it is being taken,' she said.

She said Ms Smith's conduct was 'repeated, dishonest, calculated and deliberate' and if proven amounted to gross misconduct.

Outlining the allegations, Ms Briggs said a cleaner first noticed toilet rolls had been going missing from the women's locker room and a unisex toilet at Beaumont Leys police station in Leicestershire and alerted bosses.

Anti corruption investigator Steve Brompton told how he then ordered an invisible dye which shows up under a UV light be added rolls in a bid to catch whoever was taking them.

On February 9 2023 he went to the police station after being alerted one of the rolls with the dye was missing from a unisex toilet.

He said Ms Smith was seen on CCTV carrying a large yellow 'bag for life'. He said: 'At the relevant time she was the only person who entered and exited ' the toilet.

Police station cleaner Szidonia Imbrahimaj also gave evidence, explaining how the dispensers contained two rolls - one in use and one spare - and on two occasions she noticed that after filling them, the spare roll was missing the following day.

The cleaner said the dispensers were locked and unlocked with a plastic key which only she held but said 'any key can open it'.

The panel was told that when she was arrested Ms Smith said 'I can't believe all this over a toilet roll' and she had intended to use it to clean up a spill which had dried by the time she had got to it.

Her home was then searched where colleagues found an empty 'toilet roll core' and a full one in her bathroom. Another was found in the boot of a car parked on her driveway.

She was interviewed again in April 2023 when she said she had a 'number of health issues' and often carried toilet rolls around with her in a shopping bag, which is why one ended up at her home.

Ms Smith, who has since left the force, did not attend the first day of her hearing yesterday and it went ahead in her absence.

Panel chair Joanne Lees said she had 'chosen not to attend' and had not appointed legal representation. She said while Ms Smith, who joined Leicestershire police in 2001, had made 'some admissions' the allegations were still contested. The panel chair said Ms Smith was 'not facing criminal allegations of theft'.

In an email addressed to the investigating officer read out yesterday, Ms Smith denied wrongdoing. She said she was suffering from stress and a number of health issues and often had half empty toilet rolls on her desk and in her bag. She said she suffered from allergies and had contracted covid three times, leaving her with constant cold and flu symptoms. She said had intended to return the roll found in her car saying it was a 'disposable item with a very small value'. She wrote: 'It was a stupid thing to do in hindsight but it was a health issue with no malicious intent... I have not harmed anyone. 'The CCTV shows nothing other than me arriving and leaving at the end of the day.'

She said she believed she was being made a scapegoat for the thefts adding: 'This is what you get for working through Covid'. She said she deliberately parked her car underneath CCTV cameras as the car park was open to the public adding: 'If I was running a toilet roll racket I would have parked elsewhere.'

The hearing at Leicestershire Police force headquarters is due to conclude on Tuesday.