He submitted a report stating the picker had admitted committing a crime when he had in fact never spoken to her
The woman was allegedly picking mushrooms, which is not allowed in Bradgate Park because of conservation laws
A dishonest police officer “deliberately” recorded false information on official records relating to a woman who was allegedly picking mushrooms at Bradgate Park.
PC Christopher Vickers, who had been with the force since 2004, went to speak with the woman after police were called to reports of a person cutting mushrooms to take away from the site. Taking mushrooms from Bradgate Park is illegal as it is a designated site of special scientific interest (SSSI).
PC Vickers went to the woman’s address to interview her about taking the mushrooms, but she was not at home. PC Vickers told the woman’s husband he was going to issue a community resolution to the woman and got him to sign it.
However, PC Vickers never spoke to the woman herself and filed the community resolution anyway, in breach of the rules, to avoid what he saw as “unnecessary work”.
Had the woman’s community resolution not been overturned, she would have had a criminal record and could have lost her job, police documents state.
When he reported what had happened via the Leicestershire Police system, called Niche, he lied and said the woman “admits her mistake” and had accepted a community resolution.
Community resolutions are an alternative to court action where a person admits a crime and signs a document agreeing to carry out or avoid certain actions in the future. But they can only be issued when someone has admitted a crime.
After PC Vickers was caught out, the force overturned the community resolution and took misconduct action against him, accusing the officer of dishonest conduct that was deliberate and a “significant deviation from force policy”.
He was accused of actions that “would significantly impact public trust and confidence” in the force.
A misconduct hearing was held at the force headquarters in Enderby but PC Vickers, who had left the force by then, did not attend.
The hearing took place at police headquarters in Enderby(Image: SWNS)
The hearing, chaired by Assistant Chief Constable James Avery, concluded PC Vickers was guilty of gross misconduct. ACC Avery’s report stated: “The former officer recorded incorrect information on the Niche report in respect of this incident.
“I am satisfied that this was a deliberate act on the part of the former officer, the intended result being that any reader of this report would believe that the community resolution had been issued in accordance with force policy.
“In light of the significant deviation of the information recorded from the reality of the situation, I consider that this went far above and beyond an unintended or poor recording of an incident.
“I consider that the deliberate inaccurate recording of the information demonstrates that the former officer knew that his actions were not in accordance with force policy and that he did so for his own convenience and to avoid what he perceived to be unnecessary work.”
ACC Avery added that the officer would have been sacked if he had not already left the force. He said: “I find that the breaches of the standards of professional conduct in this case are so serious as to amount to gross misconduct.”
Mr Vickers is now banned from being a police officer indefinitely.
