A police officer has been sacked after weighing down her laptop keys to appear as though she was working.
The Avon and Somerset police officer, referred to as Sergeant X, has been dismissed without notice after she was found to be using a picture frame to weigh down her keyboard.
She has been barred from police and other law enforcement agencies following a fast-tracked misconduct hearing at the force’s headquarters in Portishead today.
The misconduct panel heard that data used by the Avon and Somerset Police Professional Standards Department identified PS X’s keystrokes as being significantly high in 2024.
This prompted an investigation which opened in June that year.
Evidence found Sgt X weighed down her keyboard on the majority of shifts she worked in April and May 2025.
Her keystrokes were between three and eight times higher than colleagues in a similar role, Avon and Somerset Police said.
The officer admitted to using a corner of a picture frame to weigh down the keys to prevent her laptop going into “sleep mode”.
The officera dmitted to using a corner of a picture frame to weigh down the keys on her laptop
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PA
She explained she could monitor calls on a separate screen during a time in which she suffered challenges in her personal life.
At the hearing, former Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden, chair of the misconduct panel, found her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.
He decided at the end of proceedings that the officer’s anonymity should be upheld after considering representations.
Detective Superintendent Larisa Hunt, head of Avon and Somerset Police’s Professional Standards Department, said: “It is extremely disappointing an officer has behaved in a way which could not only discredit the police force, but also undermine the public confidence in respect of our duties and responsibilities.
“We know officers and staff deal with immense pressure and high workloads, and while Sgt X had some mitigating circumstances, it’s unacceptable for an officer to act in this deliberate and deceitful way by abusing the trust placed in her, by making it appear she was working when she was not.
“We recognise the overwhelming majority of our officers and staff work hard to protect the public.”