Leicestershire PC had been given a Supportive Intervention Map after having probation extended

A probationer who had her probation extended because of “cumulative sickness absence” has been dismissed after she lied about being ill and not being able to turn up for work on time.

Leicestershire PC Rebecca Reeves who resigned before the misconduct hearing, was due to attend a training session at the force HQ at 8am on 24 November 2022. But she contacted her supervisor at 6.30am to say she had a disturbed night due to period pains and would book an appointment with her GP, requesting to complete the training later at home.

But the misconduct panel heard she had contacted a fellow officer before that to tell them that she had been staying in Preston the night before the training and had not woken up in time in order to travel back to Leicester for duty. She told the colleague she was worried she would face criticism from her supervisor if she turned up late and said she was considering making up a family emergency to avoid this.

Her supervisor contacted her later that morning to ask whether she was still at home or at force HQ. PC Reeves replied that she was still at home waiting to visit a GP even though she knew this to be untrue.

She eventually turned up for duty at 12.30pm more than four hours late.

The panel was told that due to “cumulative sickness absence” during the course of her probation PC Reeves had been given a Supportive Intervention Map (SIM) by her line manager and her student probation period had been extended by three months. Among other things the SIM “included information intended to reinforce the importance of minimising occasions when you were unable to attend work on time.”

In making a finding of gross misconduct the panel said that an aggravating factor was that she “knowingly shared her deception with colleagues” and her actions undermined the authority of her supervisor.

The mitigation was that she fully admitted the misconduct and had apologised.