A Merseyside police officer accused of attempting to leave a supermarket without paying for a trolley full of shopping was thousands of pounds in debt, a misconduct hearing has been told.
Former PC Gemma Smith, now aged 38, was confronted while walking towards the exit of the Tesco Superstore in Heswall three days before Christmas Day in 2020.
When asked by a worker whether she had paid for her shopping, PC Smith failed to show a receipt for the £238.72 of goods in her trolley and her bank card was twice declined when she attempted to pay afterwards.
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The hearing held today (March 14) at Merseyside Police HQ Rose Hill, Grosvenor Street, heard Ms Smith, who resigned in Dec 2021, had built up over £4,000 worth of debt at the time of the incident through credit card bills, overdrafts, loans and car payments.
The mum-of-two is accused of breaching the force's standards of professional behaviour including Honesty and Integrity, Discreditable Conduct and Authority, Respect and Courtesy.
The first day of the five day hearing heard PC Smith was in partial uniform, including black "combat" trousers and a white shirt at the time of the incident, despite having the day off work.
She is also accused of "subtly showing her police warrant card" when attempting to pay. A panel will decide whether this constituted "an abuse of police powers/authority."
George Thomas, representing Merseyside Police, called six witnesses to testify, including five Tesco staff members who were present on the day.
Sharon Fearon, a cashier with over three decades' experience, recalled Ms Smith walking through the till section without paying, entering the toilets and leaving the trolley outside.
Staff members then observed her buying items from the shop's café, during which time they "kept an eye on her."
CCTV footage played to the panel showed PC Smith following the shop's one-way system, passing the tills and walking "towards the exit" of the store. She is seen checking her pockets in a manner described by Tesco duty manager Thomas Deane as "frantic" when asked whether she had paid.
Tesco team leader Sasha Ford, who confronted Ms Smith, said in the hearing: "I stepped in front of the trolley and asked if she had paid. She said 'yes.' I asked for the receipt and she started checking her pockets." Ms Smith was unable to produce a receipt.
When it was put to Ms Ford by Ms Smith's defence solicitor Nick Walker whether the officer had replied "I haven't got a receipt because I haven't paid for my shopping yet" she denied hearing this.
Ms Smith was then escorted to a till where her shopping was scanned, though the payment on her card failed to go through twice.
Multiple Tesco workers called to testify claimed her clothing led them to believe she worked "in security or [was] a police officer."
It was established that colleagues at Tesco discussed the incident amongst themselves before a number of witness statements were given to police investigating the incident in January 2021 and multiple staff members agreed to testify in any resulting misconduct hearings, indicating at the time of the statements they were aware she was a police officer.
Thomas Deane, Tesco duty manager said he "first noticed" the accused's warrant card was visible during the incident when he turned over CCTV footage of her attempting to pay for her shopping to Merseyside Police the day after the event (23 Dec.) In the footage, a see-through wallet containing what is claimed to be her warrant card, is laid flat on the till's counter during the failed attempt at payment.
Ms Smith was eventually able to pay the full amount by card after making a "10-15 minute" phone call from her car outside the store, while being observed by a number of Tesco workers.
While she was on the phone, two community support officers arrived on scene "by chance" which led to the incident being reported to police and a resulting misconduct investigation which commenced in December 2020.
The panel also heard that between October and December 2020, PC Smith had asked to borrow money from three colleagues including amounts of £150 and £65, though she was able to repay them over time, usually around 'pay day' towards the end of each month. These officers were described as 'junior' compared to PC Smith, based on length of experience rather than rank, as she had been a police officer for 12 years.
It was said that the officer had suffered with post-natal depression and had been signed off work due to stress in March 2021, following the incident and the start of the misconduct investigation.
One witness called by the representative of Merseyside Police was Sergeant Mark Pedder, who was assigned as PC Smith's "welfare officer" to support her through the misconduct proceedings. He admitted it was his first time in the role and he had received no formal training.
Sergeant Pedder, who had known Ms Smith for a number of years, said he had a meeting with her on March 9 2021 in the capacity of her welfare officer, during which she denied being in financial difficulty.
Sergeant Pedder said: "I asked if she was in financial hardship and she replied 'no.' She said she had borrowed money from a colleague on one occasion and it had been repaid." However, Ms Smith was said to still owe one colleague £150 at the time of this meeting.
He continued: "[If she had indicated she was in financial difficulty] I would have been able to refer her to appropriate support."
PC Smith was reported to have also attended a professional standards meeting following the incident.
George Thomas, representing Merseyside Police argued: "It amounts to gross misconduct to lie about borrowing money from fellow officers and being in debt to a tune of thousands of pounds.
"Ms Smith knew she was attempting to throw up a smokescreen."
Ms Smith's defence team are yet to outline their position as proceedings are ongoing. The outcome is scheduled to be given on Friday 18 March.
