A detective who tried to con Kent Police out of hundreds of hours of overtime pay has been dismissed.

Detective Constable Nick McKenzie-Whiteoak failed to attend his own misconduct hearing on Monday, which heard he made more than 50 false claims for working additional hours.

The claims ranged from an extra two to eight hours at time-and-a-half pay rates.

Simon Walsh, representing the authority, said: "If one stands back and looks at the sheer amount of hours claimed and the sheer amount of money claimed, if this isn't gross misconduct one doesn't know what is."

The hearing at Kent Police Headquarters on Sutton Road, Maidstone, got off to a slow start after the disgraced detective's legal representative made an application to adjourn.

Peter Stephenson told a panel McKenzie-Whiteoak was still seeking information from his GP - more than a year after he was notified of an internal investigation into his claims.

When the adjournment was refused, Mr Stephenson passed an email of resignation from McKenzie-Whiteoak to the panel.

The hearing continued in his absence and he was deemed to still be an employee of Kent Police.

Chair of the panel Claire Harrington heard McKenzie-Whiteoak had briefly left the force to join another in New Zealand, but he returned to Kent Police in 2008.

Since his return, the Maidstone based detective was found to have breached misconduct guidelines on four separate occasions, once in relation to duties and respect, twice in relation to authority, respect and courtesy and finally a case of discreditable conduct was found against him in 2017.

There were another 11 complaints against his name.

In May of that same year the detective started filling out fake overtime forms, he would continue until February 2018.

Kent Police started an internal investigation after a colleague noticed McKenzie-Whiteoak's car had left the station before his overtime was alleged to have finished.

Despite attempts to resign, a panel chaired by Ms Harrington found the detective had committed gross misconduct and he was dismissed from Kent Police without notice.

Detective Chief Superintendent Rachel Curtis, head of Professional Standards, said: "Kent Police officers and staff are expected to maintain the highest standards of professional behaviour at all times.

"DC Nick McKenzie-Whiteoak fell far below these standards when he claimed overtime for work that had not been carried out, demonstrating a clear lack of honesty and integrity.

"His dismissal from Kent Police is a fair and proportionate outcome for such a serious breach of professional conduct."

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