A March policeman who sparked an emergency when he went missing (he was getting a kebab at the time) and used a police car to drive his wife home, has been sacked.
PC Richard Musgrave, 52, was dismissed from Cambridgeshire Constabulary following a misconduct hearing.
He was found to have breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity, discreditable conduct and duties and responsibilities at a hearing which concluded yesterday (8 January).
Musgrave was dismissed without notice following a week long misconduct hearing.
The panel was told that while he was eating the kebab, PC Musgrave told bosses his earpiece had come out of his radio and his watch had stopped.
However, he then reportedly changed his story to say he had fallen asleep.
Meanwhile colleagues had sent an emergency response to the Hundred Road area of March after becoming concerned about PC Musgrave’s whereabouts when he failed to respond to numerous radio and phone calls.
A report prepared for the misconduct hearing said: “PC Musgrave had taken a marked police vehicle to collect Ms A and her friends and take them to a friend’s home address.
“PC Musgrave then drove to an industrial estate in the Hundred Road area and ate a kebab.
“PC Musgrave then resumed radio contact and returned to March Police Station.
“When asked where he had been, PC Musgrave told the sergeant that he had been on a burglary patrol on the industrial estate, his watch had stopped, his earpiece had come out of his radio and his mobile was on silent.”
That same evening, the woman referred to as Ms A was drinking in March’s Wetherspoon pub.
“Some of the group were refused service due to their demeanour,” a misconduct hearing report said.
“PC Musgrave was on duty, in uniform in a marked police vehicle and drove to the pub.
“He met Ms A and some of the group outside and spoke with them before entering the pub.
“PC Musgrave was aware of the behaviour of the group and took no material or adequate steps to address it.
“PC Musgrave prepared and signed a witness statement in relation to the incident at the pub.
“The statement was incomplete, lacked detail, and contained assertions that were untrue.”
Several days later, PC Musgrave told a sergeant he had not been honest about his whereabouts on July 31 2016, the report said.
“PC Musgrave then dishonestly told the sergeant that he had gone to the industrial estate to finish writing a statement and had fallen asleep there,” the report said.
“The sergeant challenged PC Musgrave over this as his laptop slate was at the police station at the time.
“PC Musgrave then dishonestly told the sergeant that he had seen Ms A in town, had gone to pick her up, took her home and had something to eat there.
“On being told that the inspector would be made aware, PC Musgrave then had a discussion with the sergeant during which he asked the sergeant to tell the inspector that he had been asleep.”
The hearing heard evidence that included CCTV footage from Wetherspoons and of his wife hurling abuse at bar staff after querying a bill.
In the ensuring argument, the hearing was told, PC Musgrave had failed to respond properly to the ongoing incident.
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