A Metropolitan Police officer failed to disclose he had been dismissed from another force 21 years ago and barred from joining a third in the latest vetting scandal.
Really, a day when the Met Police doesn’t disgrace itself must surely be coming, but that day is not yet here.
PC Richard Fieldhouse served for around three years until his lies were uncovered in December 2022. Fieldhouse quit Hampshire Constabulary while under investigation in 2005 for breaches of “honesty and integrity” relating to his handling of a wanted suspect, a gross misconduct panel heard.
In April 2007, he applied to join Surrey Police. However, as part of its background checks Hampshire revealed Fieldhouse had once falsified a statement and been found guilty in his absence.His assessment day in Guildford, Surrey was cancelled and the force subsequently blocked him.
Gosh, what's a wanna-be crooked cop to do? Reader, you guessed it!
Undeterred, Fieldhouse sought to join the Met in February 2019 after declaring a driving job. Although admitting to working for Hampshire and being rejected by Surrey, he simply answered “no” to a question on his application form that asked whether he had previously been admonished or subject to discipline matters by any previous employer, regulatory or professional body.
He successfully became a constable in London four months later.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey
Commander Stephen Clayman, who chaired the hearing, said: “Honesty is a fundamental requirement of any police officer."
How about competence? It seems that would be more useful, especially in your HR department.
It is not known when he resigned from the Met, but on January 27 the ex-officer disengaged with the process and no longer wanted a Police Federation representative. Had Fieldhouse not quit, he would have been dismissed without notice for discreditable conduct. He will be placed on the College of Policing barred list.
So, are we to assume from that, that he wasn’t on it before. What does one have to do?
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