Devon and Cornwall Police officer was ‘deceptive and dishonest’

A former Devon and Cornwall police officer found guilty of serious misconduct on two separate charges has been described as “deceptive and dishonest”.

Senior officers said one charge saw Daniel Leggasick, who left the force before sentencing, falsely state in a crime report that he had given advice to people involved in a case on November 29, 2023, when he had not -a.

The second allegation was that a copy of an interview plan for an assessor, which was supposed to have been submitted on December 5, 2023, was actually submitted on December 7.

The force said it had concluded the allegations were proven after an expedited misconduct hearing on June 19, and Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell concluded the officer would have been dismissed without notice had he still been on duty.

Mr Colwell concluded that Mr Leggasick had breached the standards of professional conduct in respect of honesty and integrity, duties and responsibilities, orders and instructions and discreditable conduct.

The former PC fully admitted that his behavior on both occasions was deliberate, deceptive and dishonest, the force said.

Superintendent Jo Arundale, from the force’s Professional Standards Department, said PC Leggasick’s actions fell below his high standards.

“Deliberately and dishonestly misleading a supervisor departs significantly from clearly held public expectations of how an officer should conduct himself, both on and off duty ” said the superintendent.

“This is not the case of an officer making a mistake or exercising poor judgment while under extreme stress or challenge in the line of duty.

“Former Constable Leggasick deliberately chose to misbehave on both occasions, knowing he was misleading his supervisor and his evaluator.”