Man who ‘pulled sickies to go horse racing’ sacked after being spotted live on Channel 4

A police officer who pulled sickies to go to the horse races has been sacked after being caught out by TV cameras.

PC Jonathan Adams denied gross misconduct and told a disciplinary hearing at Gloucestershire police HQ that he was genuinely ill and went to the horse racing to cure his illness.

A tribunal heard his case over two days and ruled he had been dishonest and that race meetings was not a reasonable cure for his symptoms.

The tribunal chairman, lawyer Alex Lock, said, according to the Mirror, that his symptoms described were:

not compatible with the activities he said he undertook in going racing.

One could not realistically do both. We were forced to conclude, in those circumstances, that he was not suffering to the degree he said he was.

This calls into question the credibility of the evidence he gave.

We conclude it was more likely than not on the balance of probabilities that he did pass the threshold of being fit for work. We find the allegations of against him to be upheld.

As the allegations relate to his honesty and integrity they must fall into the category of gross misconduct.

Adams was a probationer officers at the Barton Street police station in Gloucester.

During the Tribunal, the Mirror reports, Adams said he was ill and suffering from symptoms of anxiety and depression due to a difficult working environment.

The tribunal was told that he called in sick on 30 September 2015, 6 April 2016, and 17 June 2016, the first two dates of which he travelled to Nottingham Races to see a horse called Little Lady Katie, in which he had a two and a half per cent share in an owners syndicate called Onto a Winner.

The panel were shown a clip from Channel 4 Racing of him celebrating the victory to the camera.

HT Mirror

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