Surrey officer dismissed without notice following accelerated misconduct hearing

A serving Surrey officer who was found guilty of perverting the course of justice and fraud by false representation has been dismissed without notice following an accelerated misconduct hearing held today (7 June).

PC Amanda Aston was dismissed after she was found to have breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour following her conviction at Maidstone Crown Court on 23 March for two counts of perverting the course of public justice and one count of fraud by false representation. She was given a custodial sentence of 21 months, to be suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Surrey Chief Constable Tim De Meyer, who chaired the hearing at Surrey Police Headquarters, found that PC Aston’s behaviour had discredited the police service and undermined public confidence in Surrey Police and the police service as a whole.

He also found her behaviour to be dishonest and lacking integrity, and that she had compromised her position as a police officer.

Chief Constable De Meyer determined that PC Aston’s behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and that she should be dismissed without notice. Her details will also be placed on the College of Policing barred list.

During the trial, the court heard how Aston, who was based at Guildford police station, had lied about being a victim of domestic abuse which led to the imprisonment of another officer.

During their relationship, which began in February 2017, she made false allegations of control and abuse about him during a 57-page witness statement and a video recorded interview.

He was charged with engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour and released on court bail, with one of the conditions of his bail being not to contact Aston. However, the court heard how she repeatedly encouraged him to breach these conditions and then reported him for the breaches.

He was arrested for breaching his bail and subsequently spent two months in prison. He was also dismissed from the Force following a misconduct hearing.

He was released from prison after evidence emerged which indicated that Aston had withheld key information from the original investigation team.

During the investigation it was also established that Aston had made a false application for a £5,000 grant from the Police Welfare Fund in June 2018 by claiming she had suffered financial hardship as a result of having to move home several times due to the other officer’s alleged behaviour.

Chief Constable De Meyer said: “For a police officer to make false allegations, which led to another officer being incarcerated, and to make false representations to benefit from an official fund reserved for hardship, is so serious that it leaves me with no option but to dismiss her without notice.

“Her conduct obviously undermines public confidence in the police service and her actions clearly caused distress, inconvenience, and public expense.”