A Metropolitan police officer from the unit that protects government ministers has tested positive for cocaine at work.
A gross misconduct hearing for former PC Matthew Thomas, who was a member of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection service (PaDP), is being held on Wednesday after he failed a drug test.
The Met said it “received intelligence” that he “was involved in the taking of illicit substances” on March 31.
A test was administered on April 23, while PC Thomas was at work.
Nearly two weeks later it showed he had cocaine in his system, the Met said.
It pushed through an accelerated misconduct hearing for PC Thomas, who has since quit the force.
PaDP is the largest armed police unit in the UK. Its officers protect the Palace of Westminster, government ministers and provide advice on threat levels.
It comes as more than 300 Met officers await gross misconduct hearings, where they have been accused of a serious breach in their standard of professional behaviour and could be sacked or banned from working for the police again.
This backlog is a “significant increase” on last year and the force has said it wants 30 misconduct hearings to take place per month as it attempts to weed out unfit officers from its ranks.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has vowed to rebuild public trust and confidence in policing after it was shattered by a slew of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens and the unmasking of former PC David Carrick as a serial abuser and rapist.
