Police inspector sacked for gross misconduct

A police inspector has been dismissed without notice for gross misconduct after he "failed to maintain a professional boundary" with a vulnerable person.

Andrew Price, who was based in Louth, Lincolnshire, "breached integrity" by failing to report the extent of his relationship with the vulnerable person, which included paying off a drug debt of £40 for them.

Chief Constable Paul Gibson said Price "saw himself as a saviour" and described his actions as "deliberate and intentional".

At a Lincolnshire Police misconduct hearing on Wednesday, Price was also found to have kept PAVA spray, a synthetic version of pepper spray, at his home rather than returning it to the police station.

The hearing at the force's headquarters in Nettleham found that Price's actions amounted to gross misconduct on both counts.

The vulnerable person was referred to in the hearing as "Person A" to maintain anonymity.

Price, who lives near Woodhall Spa, had "used his own money, time and resources for Person A", Gibson said.

Price, who joined the force in 2004, sent more than 1,000 messages to Person A on his personal phone, paid for their shopping, bought them a birthday present and attended a quiz with them.

He was also found to have sent Person A £40 to help them pay off a drug debt, and advised them not to report it to police.

Gibson said Price had become "entrenched in helping Person A" and that his conduct "created a conflict of interest and... he chose not to report it" to the force.

Price's conduct was also found to "substantially undermine public confidence in Lincolnshire Police".

Price said his conduct towards Person A was "primarily to assist him due to his health and provision of services being inadequate to meet his needs in Lincolnshire".

When asked if he thought his actions might have compromised the public's relationship with Lincolnshire Police, Price said the public may have found it "admirable" that he took on a social worker-type role.

However, he added: "Yes, I recognise now I blurred boundaries.

"I had a very good rapport with him, and that's all I saw it as."

Price added that, at the time, he had "needed someone to take over that supportive role" with Person A as he had "got quite obsessed with the problem-solving aspect of it".

On 27 September 2024, Price was found to have kept PAVA spray in his possession, despite police policy that it needed to be locked away in an approved locker when he was not on duty.

Price said he had kept the spray in his home rather than returning it to the police station when he found it in his police vehicle on 14 September 2024.

In an interview, Price said the spray had been in his car overnight only on 26 and 27 September.

He pleaded guilty on 26 May at Nottingham Magistrates' Court to the possession of PAVA spray, contrary to the Firearms Act.

He was discharged conditionally for six months and an order was made to deprive him of the right to using PAVA spray.

Gibson said: "The officer may not have intended to take the spray home but was clearly under an obligation to return it when he realised."

The chief constable added that the potential loss of the PAVA spray would have "had a serious impact on public confidence and could have resulted in more harm".

Mitigating factors put to the hearing included Price being "burnt out" and experiencing stress when he had taken the PAVA spray home.

He was described as a "high-performing officer and well thought of by colleagues", Gibson said.

Price also said he had subsequently been diagnosed with ADHD, and "scored highly on the autistic spectrum".

Gibson said he took those factors into consideration but he still had to "look at the effect of [Price's] conduct".

Gibson said he was giving the dismissal-without-notice outcome to Price with "genuine and significant regret".

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