Police officer sacked after secretly working as a bike shop barista
A police officer has been sacked for moonlighting as a barista while receiving full pay from his force.
PC Stanley Kennett, 31, ran The Coffee Cycle, based in a bike shop in Storrington, West Sussex, while employed by the Metropolitan Police.
He tried to register it as a business interest while suspended from duty in April 2024, but was rejected.
Despite not appealing the decision, he continued working at the coffee shop.
The misconduct hearing found this amounted to gross misconduct, and he has been placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.
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Commander Andy Brittain said: ‘This was not simply a volunteering opportunity, this was a full-blown and expanding business supported by incorporation of that business, the granting of a director’s loan and employment of staff.
‘Pc Kennett is also noted to have been actively engaged on social media promoting that business.
‘This was a sophisticated operation, and Pc Kennett appears heavily involved at all points.
‘All of which appears to undermine the submission on his behalf that at relevant points he lacked capacity to understand the significance of the consequences of his actions.’
He added: ‘Running a business, whether for financial gain or not, whilst suspended on full pay, brings policing and the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) in particular into disrepute.
‘Members of the public would not expect serving police officers to act in this way.’
It comes as an officer, referred to as Sergeant X by Avon and Somerset Police, has been barred from working in any UK law enforcement agencies after she used a work-from-home hack.
She was found to have weighed down her keyboard with a picture frame, while her keystrokes were identified as ‘significantly high’ in 2024 by the force’s Professional Standards Department.
An investigation was opened, and it was discovered the majority of shifts she worked had between three to eight times higher keystroke count than her colleagues in a similar role.
She admitted to using the corner of a picture frame to weight down her keyboard so her laptop would not go into ‘sleep mode’ while going through challenges in her personal life.
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