A POLICE officer has been banned from the force for life after stealing seven fry-ups within his first week on the job.
PC Jamie Larman, of Thames Valley Police, knowingly helped himself to a week’s worth of Full English breakfasts from his training centre canteen despite being fully aware he wasn’t entitled to free meals.
Under police rules, officers and staff at the Berkshire facility are eligible to stay on-site if they live more than 20 miles away from the facility.
As an additional incentive, they are also entitled to complimentary meals from the on-site canteen.
However, anyone living within the 20-mile radius is exempt from this and, when using the canteen, is expected to pay for their meals.
This included Larman, who was caught flouting the rules when another officer overheard him saying: "I’m not entitled to this [breakfast], but I should be, I only live just outside the boundary."
A misconduct hearing heard how Larman defended his actions by claiming he stole the breakfasts in order to try and “build rapport” with his fellow trainees.
However, this defence was dismissed as “nonsense” by Thames Valley Police’s (TVP) Chief Constable John Campbell, who highlighted a similar incident involving Larman from last year.
Police records show that, in 2019, Larman was given a warning after he was caught stealing food before a training day as a Police Community Support Officer (PSCO).
After becoming a PSCO in May 2019, he went on to begin his training as a police constable in January of this year but quit two weeks into his training a few days after he was challenged over the stealing of the breakfasts.
Chief Constable Campbell told a hearing: “He states that the reason for his actions were to build rapport with colleagues who met early for breakfast ahead of training.
“I consider this nonsense. He could have fulfilled this objective by paying for his own food and not stealing from TVP. ‘
“To compound this, there is evidence he behaved similarly as a PSCO. He was fully aware of the force rules and that he was therefore not entitled to free food.
“It was not a “mistake” as he suggests – it was wilful and dishonest. He has no place in TVP.
“If he was still serving, I would have dismissed him without notice. He will be placed on the COP [College of Policing] barred list.”
