A police officer was found drunk with hallucinogenic Class A ‘magic mushrooms’ in a gun cabinet at his home, a misconduct hearing was told. He was arrested and charged with possession of drugs, then fined at a hearing at Manchester and Salford magistrates court held earlier this year.
Now former Merseyside PC Guy Patten has appeared before an accelerated misconduct hearing where he faced the allegation, which was found proven, of possessing class A drugs.
The hearing, which was chaired by Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, heard police officers were called to the former officer’s home on the Wirral on December 3 last year. The hearing heard PC Patten, who was drunk, was asked to hand over the keys to his firearms cabinet, which he reluctantly did.
Officers found a quantity of the class A drug stored in the cupboard. The former officer was arrested and charged with possession of the drugs and appeared before Manchester Magistrates’ Court on April 11 this year where he pleaded guilty. He received a £600 fine, £85 costs and a surcharge of £240.
In her written findings, CC Kennedy said: “I am satisfied the facts as set out are proven…I am satisfied that former officer Patten has breached the standards of professional behaviour, namely discreditable conduct. The communities of Merseyside should quite rightly be able to have trust and confidence that the officers and staff working for Merseyside Police not only uphold the law but also abide by the law.
“The former officer has completely disregarded the standards expected both by the force and the communities of Merseyside by committing a criminal offence –namely possessing class A drugs.” Merseyside’s most senior officer added: “The communities of Merseyside need to have absolute trust and confidence that the officers and staff within Merseyside Police can be relied on to abide by the law and behave in a manner that does not discredit the police service or undermine public confidence.
