A drug vendor nicknamed ‘Mr Huge’ escaped custody and went on the run for 40 days after ‘incompetent’ cops tasked with monitoring him watched TV and scrolled on their cell phones.
PCs Lydia Jackson and Rob Lawton have been warned Lewis Abubakar should be ‘watched like a hawk’ as a result of he had beforehand tried to evade seize.
The officers have been briefed by the custody sergeant and signed an affidavit confirming they understood they should be ‘vigilant always.’
However the pair, who had 12 years of expertise between them, allowed Abubakar to slide away whereas he obtained remedy at Horton Common Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire, following his arrest on April 14, 2020.
He was cuffed within the hospital however merely stood up and walked out whereas each officers have been distracted.
Oxford Crown Court docket heard final yr how Abubakar laundered virtually £250,000 from drug dealing. He was jailed for greater than 5 years.
The officers have been discovered responsible of gross misconduct and handed a five-year last written warning.
A misconduct panel, chaired by barrister Harry Eire, described the officers’ actions as ‘incompetent’ however ‘unintentional’.
Nevertheless, the officers weren't helped by the custody sergeant suggesting Abubakar was ‘all mouth and no trousers.’
However they need to have been on excessive alert after PC Lawton was warned by one other colleague of the potential escape danger.
‘This could have alerted the officers to an elevated danger and thus a change of techniques was required. This didn't occur,’ Mr Eire mentioned.
The officers ignored an instruction prohibiting use of cell phones.
Their actions risked damaging the popularity of the police and there was a hazard that Abubakar may have continued dealing medication whereas on the run, the listening to was advised.
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