Suspended police officer sacked over second job

A POLICE sergeant who took a second job for two years despite being refused permission has been sacked without notice.

- ADAM POSTANS Local Democracy Reporter [e-mail]

Sgt Christopher Tearle, who worked for Avon & Somerset Police for nearly two decades, was found to have committed gross misconduct at a hearing on Friday, June 13. The 45-year-old dad-of-two, who is based in Radstock, will also be placed on a barred list preventing him from policing and law enforcement again.

He was suspended on an unrelated matter in March 2023 and put in a request to take a paid job at an engineering company the following month.

When this was refused, he appealed to the chief constable who dismissed it in May 2023 and ordered him not to take the work, the misconduct hearing at force headquarters in Portishead was told. But he started at the firm, which cannot be named for legal reasons, in June that year anyway and did not inform the constabulary, and he is still employed there.

Sgt Tearle admitted misconduct but denied gross misconduct.