A Metropolitan Police officer who drove to work to avoid being late despite not having a UK licence or insurance has been sacked.
PC Russel Dcosta claimed he had no alternatives to the car when getting to Feltham Police Station on time.
But a gross misconduct hearing was told he lived close to a train station and bus stops in Slough that could have been used to travel to Hounslow.
Dcosta had been warned against driving by his line managers after it was identified in March last year that he didn’t have a licence or valid car insurance.
But he committed the offences again on May 17 and was later convicted at Highbury Coroner Magistrates’ Court.
The married father-of-two admitted breaching standards of professional behaviour but said it was a moment of “poor judgment”.
The panel heard Dcosta had ambitions of getting a job in CID after working in a volume crime unit where his workload reduced from 150 investigations to 26.
Dcosta, who joined the Met in 2023, completed his policing degree and probationary period.
He explained that he supports his banker wife, two children and sends money to India for his mother’s medical care.
Dcosta presented a 10-page bundle of character witness evidence for his disciplinary hearing at Sutton Police Station on February 13, suggesting that he should be given a final written warning instead.
But Commander Andy Brittain, who dismissed him without notice, said: “PC Dcosta knew, had been told and confirmed that he understood what the right thing was, but did the opposite.
“Police officers are expected to be even more scrupulous in their observance of the law than members of the public. PC Dcosta fell far short of that expectation.
“The public expect police officers to uphold the law rather than breach the law.”
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