Ex-GMP officer barred from policing for drink-driving

A former Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer has been barred from working in policing after being convicted of drink-driving.

Former PC Jonathan Pickerill was stopped by officers in Cheshire on 26 November 2025 and found to be more than twice the legal alcohol limit.

At a misconduct hearing, Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said Pickerill's actions "undoubtedly damages the trust and confidence that the public have a right to expect of their police".

GMP found the former officer's behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and said he would have been dismissed from the force had he not already resigned.

The hearing was told Pickerill was off duty and driving from his home in Staffordshire when he was pulled over by officers in Cheshire.

He was found to have 81 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

According to the misconduct outcome, the former PC pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol in his system at South Cheshire Magistrates' Court on 22 June. He was fined and disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay £627 in fines, costs and a victim surcharge.

Sir Stephen said Pickerill had "consumed a significant quantity of alcohol" before driving and that his behaviour put other road users at risk.

"His actions were deliberate and carried out in the full knowledge that his conduct was both patently unlawful and entirely incompatible with the standards of behaviour required of a police officer."

Sir Stephen said drink-driving "remains an enduring source of public concern".

"Mr Pickerill's conduct and conviction inevitably brings the profession into disrepute and undoubtedly damages the trust and confidence that the public have a right to expect of their police", he added.

The misconduct hearing was told Pickerill had experienced "difficult issues in his personal life" which he said had "undermined his mental health".

However, the Chief Constable said he could not establish that these had created "an undeniable causal link" to his offending.

Sir Stephen said had Pickerill not resigned from GMP, "he would have been dismissed from the service with immediate effect".

His name has been added to the College of Policing's barred list, which means he can no longer work in policing.

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