More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A police officer will be given management advice for driving too fast and causing a collision in Maidstone which left a member of the public with a broken collarbone, during the 2018 ‘Beast from the East’ storm.
Following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), a misconduct hearing arranged by Kent Police was held on Tuesday.
PC Mark Sloane admitted misconduct and an independent panel found he had breached the standards of professional behaviour when his driving caused a collision in Courtenay Road, Maidstone.
The collision happened just after 9pm on 1 March 2018, during a severe storm.
PC Sloane was responding to the emergency report of a burglary in progress.
He was driving 56mph in a 30mph zone when he lost control and collided with one car as it was being parked outside a shop and two parked vehicles.
The driver of the first vehicle sustained a broken collarbone and an officer who was in PC Sloane’s car broke a finger.
The IOPC concluded their investigation in October 2018 and PC Sloane was convicted of careless driving at Woolwich Crown Court in December 2019, with eight penalty points put on his driving licence.
PC Sloane will now be given management advice, the lowest level of misconduct, with the panel deciding it was “a one-off lapse falling at the bottom end of the scale of misconduct.”
IOPC regional director for London and the South East, Sarah Green said: “When responding to incidents, the first aim of any police officer should be to arrive safely.
"PC Sloane was called out to a theft but wasn’t able to deal with that incident because of his careless driving.
“The public expect police to protect them - not only was this a clear breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour he was expected to maintain, but driving at 56mph in a 30mph zone during severe snow and icy conditions was careless and put both PC Sloane and others at risk.
“We hope PC Sloane reflects on the lessons to be learnt from this.”
