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Forced out PC sacked for working as a referee and behind a bar
Bristol Post
|June 11, 2025
A STUDENT police officer who took paid work as a football referee and behind a bar without permission and while suspended from duty or on sick leave has been sacked.
PC Louis Cosway, based in Bristol, was found to have committed gross misconduct at a hearing and will be barred from policing for life.
He was suspended for an unrelated matter in November 2023, which was lifted the following April when he was placed on restricted duties before going on sick leave for six months.
But in December 2023 he submitted a business interest application to Avon and Somerset Police to work as a paid referee for the Football Association.
PC Cosway was informed in February 2024 that he had been refused permission but by then he had refereed seven matches for cash-in-hand in Shirehampton without having waited for the decision and while he was suspended from duty, the misconduct hearing panel was told.
He also completed 13 paid shifts at a bar in Newport between July and December last year while on sick leave and without requesting permission.
This story is from the June 11, 2025 edition of Bristol Post.
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