A woman police officer on duty caused thousands of pounds of damage to a McLaren Formula One racing car on display in a hotel when she kicked him as if “taking a penalty,” a disciplinary hearing was told.
Demi Love, a Hampshire Police officer, had stayed with friends at a Hilton hotel near Wembley to attend a Spice Girls concert in June 2019.
The bright orange Formula 1 car that double world champion Fernando Alonso had driven for McLaren in the 2018 season was in the reception area.
However, after drinking four cocktails in the hotel bar, Ms. Love was seen running to the car and kicking hard.
The hotel manager who witnessed the incident said Ms. Love looked like she was receiving a fine and was later found to have caused £ 2,076 worth of damage.
The officer was then charged with property damage, but the case was later dropped when she paid to have the car repaired.
Official guilty of untrustworthy behavior
Ms. Love, who later resigned as a police officer, denied deliberately kicking the car, claiming she simply tripped and collided with it, despite CCTV footage suggesting otherwise.
But a panel of gross misconduct found her guilty of unbelievable behavior. She was also found to have violated standards of honesty and integrity by lying during the investigation.
The Malpractice Panel decided that if she had not already resigned, she would have been released from the police force.
Barrister Stephen Morley, who is prosecuting on behalf of the Professional Standards Division, told the Hampshire Constabulary malpractice hearing: “PC Love said in an interview that she had about four cocktails but denied she was drunk.”
“When leaving the hotel, something happened in the reception area of the hotel with a car parked in the foyer. It wasn’t just any car, it was a McLaren Formula 1 car.
“CCTV footage shows PC Love and her friends getting out of the elevator, turning left and stopping for a moment. It looks like a group of young women who have had a few drinks.
“The footage shows PC Love stopping a few meters in front of the vehicle, then quickly moving towards it, kicking it, turning around and returning to its friends.”
Mr. Morley stated that the incident was shot from four different angles and shows that Ms. Love is looking to the left first “as if to check that the coast is clear”.
But she was seen by hotel manager Ross Blezard, who was standing about 10 meters from the car at the time.
Mr. Morley said: “[He said] I looked in the direction of the car and saw the lady run three steps at high speed before kicking hard enough to cause a loud bang like taking a penalty kick. She started laughing and giggling. “
The misconduct hearing was told that while the damage was relatively minor, it was still £ 2,076 to repair.
Mr. Morley said Ms. Love appeared in the district court on the crime of property damage, of which she pleaded not guilty. The Crown Prosecutor later dropped the criminal case after Ms. Love paid for the damage she caused.
Mr. Morley said, “PC Love says this was all a complete accident. She says she went up to her friends … she says she tripped or slipped and fell on the vehicle.
“The footage and Mr Blezard’s report… make it clear that she did not slip or fall, but approached the vehicle on purpose.
“We say the footage and PC Love report just don’t match.”
Adamant the damage was random
Sergeant Anderson Moray, who represented the former officer, read a brief statement to the panel that said, “PC Love has consistently denied that she deliberately damaged the car.
“She accepts to have a drink with her friends, she accepts contact with the car and she accepts that she caused the damage.
“She regrets what she has done, but remains firmly convinced that the damage was an accident. She has taken responsibility for the damage and taken steps to repair it.”
Harry Ireland, Chairman of the Malpractice Committee, said, “For the first 15 seconds [of the footage] The former officer makes a conscious movement in the body with her right foot.
“There was no fall or trip, it was a deliberate action.”
Both charges were found established and the panel found that Ms. Love would have been fired if she had not already resigned.
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