Senior British Transport Police employee dismissed following IOPC investigation into recruitment irregularities

A senior member of civilian staff at British Transport Police (BTP) has been dismissed without notice for gross misconduct following an investigation into recruitment process irregularities by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The ruling by a disciplinary panel, which concluded on Tuesday 14 September, came after it found three counts of gross misconduct proven.

Our investigation examined the staff member’s actions during two separate recruitment rounds between November 2015 and May 2018 including the handling of all aspects those processes and whether they were in line with BTP’s policies and procedures.

In November 2020 we completed our investigation and concluded that the member of civilian staff had a case to answer for gross misconduct. We passed our report to BTP who agreed with our findings and arranged for disciplinary proceedings to take place.

Director of Major Investigations, Steve Noonan said: “Our investigation into the staff member’s conduct found the usual recruitment and application process had been circumvented and inappropriately interfered with, and managers were misled to secure a higher salary for a preferred candidate.

“This was done so that the candidate would accept the role, despite there being another suitable candidate who had been interviewed and passed the required process and may have accepted it at the lower salary.

“In another recruitment drive wording was amended on a candidate’s history to put them in a better light and enhance their chances of passing the required vetting for the role.

“Corruption of this nature erodes the public’s confidence in policing which is why it is right that this individual has been dismissed with immediate effect. We have identified some organisational learning for BTP and are in consultation with them over the areas of those learning recommendations.”

We also examined the actions of two police officers who reviewed the recruitment process, before the matter was referred to the IOPC, and after it was apparent procedural irregularities may have occurred, and a third officer for their actions during that review. One officer had a case to answer for misconduct which was dealt with via management action. Learning opportunities for all three officers were identified.

IOPC investigators obtained statements, conducted interviews, and gathered and analysed BTP policies and procedures.