South Yorkshire Police officer who did nothing to catch violent man outside Mexborough Domino's struck off

PC Adam Rashid was dispatched to the pizza chain on High Street on August 4, 2023, following three separate 999 calls about a man threatening staff, kicking over delivery drivers’ mopeds and hitting a woman in the face.

However, Mr Rashid did such a poor job gathering evidence or investigating whether a crime was committed it triggered a review of his bodyworn camera footage by officials.

They found the plain facts at the scene of the crime didn’t add up when compared to the notes he had written in an attempt to close the case.

But then, when the PC was then ordered to do the job properly, he then also lied about doing anything to look into it and entered “deliberately dishonest” entries to the case logs.

Now, the former copper has been struck off and told he can never work as an officer again after a misconduct hearing found he failed to investigate the crime and deliberately submitted false information to close the case.

“PC Rashid attempted to hide his actions”

A report from the misconduct hearing, which concluded on March 20, reads: “PC Rashid attempted to hide his actions by way of false and dishonest recording...

“This was not a case of an officer making a mistake or exercising poor judgement whilst under extreme stress or provocation whilst doing their duty. PC Rashid deliberately chose to misconduct himself. “

PC Rashid’s write up of the incident claimed:

- He did not know who the suspect was, despite being told by a Domino’s staff member who recognised him

- He said there was no damage to the mopeds or the premises, despite bodyworn footage showing there were “clear complaints of damage to a moped and damage to a door”

- He s aid no threats had been made to staff despite being repeatedly told by drivers how they had been made to feel frightened

- He made no mention of a woman being assaulted in the face, despite being told this at the scene

When caught, seniors later directed him to investigate the alleged offences properly - at which point he lied in police files about conducting a CCTV search, carrying out door-to-door enquiries, and checking the pizza chain’s door for damage.

He also lied that he had “advised the victims that all reasonable lines of enquiry had been carried out.”

Failed to investigate

It means, despite being informed of multiple avenues to gather evidence, interview victims, or pursue a suspect, PC Rashid closed the case without doing anything he could to try and catch a culprit.

Later in evidence, PC Rashid denied being deliberately dishonest but “accepted that he made mistakes,” often minimising how he incorrectly logged information as “just my way of writing things.” The panel rejected this and found he had lied on purpose.

PC Rashid had been employed for four years at the time of the incident.

The panel also heard Mr Rashid had received “remedial training around his failure to record crimes” in November 2022, meaning he had already been warned about such behaviour.

A report from the misconduct hearing reads: “On the totality of the evidence, the Panel did not find PC Rashid to be a credible witness.

“His repeated explanations of ‘I should have worded that better’, this was ‘my way of writing things’ and it was ‘my mistake’ were unconvincing when considered against the clear witness accounts and multiple factual inaccuracies recorded by him.

“PC Rashid failed to conduct a thorough investigation, potentially resulting in significant consequences for victims... He failed to treat victims with fairness and respect...”

Additionally, the panel said they did not identify “any mitigating factors” over his misconduct.

PC Rashid was dismissed without notice and will be placed on the College of Policing Barred List, meaning he cannot work as a copper ever again.

Mr Rashid will be given the right to appeal the verdict.