A Kent Police sergeant who served with the force for more than two decades has been sacked after conducting a sustained harassment campaign against a driving school business.
Gabriel Chandler was dismissed without notice following a misconduct hearing that took place between 8 and 12 December 2025, which determined his actions constituted gross misconduct.
The officer, who joined Kent Police in 2002, launched his campaign of abuse against Intensives UK after his son was unable to begin an intensive driving course with the company.
The dispute originated in June 2021 when Chandler paid £1,359 for the course, including a non-refundable deposit.
His son subsequently either failed or did not sit the required theory test, meaning the course could not proceed.
When Chandler was offered £1,122 as a partial refund in March 2022, he refused to accept it.
The officer took aim at the company behind an intense driving course
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Between February and August 2022, the misconduct panel found that Chandler bombarded company owner Mark Elliot and the Intensives UK office with as many as 30 to 50 telephone calls daily, wielding his police position to make threats and references to imprisonment.
In one email dated 11 March, he wrote: “Do the right thing because once this starts, I can’t stop it. You’re homes and offices will be raided. You will all face heavy custodial sentences. And in my experience fraudsters aren’t built for prison. Your families they’ll be ripped apart.”
He also directed recipients to search his name alongside criminals he had arrested on a local news website.
A further threatening message sent on 20 March declared: “Your a thief. I will will be on you relentlessly till I see you inside or you pay back my money. Yes I’m enjoying this. Lots more to come. Dig in for another week. I’m not going anywhere. Try and sleep. While you can. A storms heading your way.”
Throughout this period, the panel established that Chandler posted “numerous, malicious and persistent” reviews on business pages connected to Intensives UK, branding them fraudulent.
He made baseless allegations that staff were “organised criminals who are linked on the dark web for funding drugs, paedophilia and child sexual exploitation”.
During the hearing, Chandler maintained he communicated in this manner to show the company he would not be pushed around, claiming he believed the business was defrauding vulnerable people including pensioners and children.