Sacked policeman fails to win back job

Photo / Northern Advocate

A Whangarei policeman sacked after he was acquitted on an assault charges has failed to win his job back.

Paul Lamb failed to convince the Employment Relations Authority he had been unjustifiably dismissed by police after he was acquitted on a charge of assaulting a prisoner in the back of a patrol car in February, 2009.

A police disciplinary hearing later decided Mr Lamb should be dismissed for serious misconduct and he was sacked in June, last year.

The serious misconduct related to his failure to report the use of force to restrain the prisoner and using the prisoner's jersey to wipe up blood and mucus.

Police also said Mr Lamb had a history of exercising poor judgment, and the ability to exercise judgment was a key in policing.

There was no alternative role for Mr Lamb outside front line policing and police said they did not have confidence Mr Lamb would act in a manner that would not adversely impact on others

Employment Relations Authority member Eleanor Robinson said the sacking was a decision which a fair and reasonable employer would have made in all the circumstances and Mr Lamb was not unjustifiably dismissed. A ruling on costs was reserved.

Mr Lamb, who joined the police in 1993, was charged with assault after an incident in Whangarei in February, 2009, when a man was arrested for allegedly bag snatching.

The man was drunk and difficult to control in the back of a police car and the authority said Mr Lamb punched and choked him in an effort to control him during the back to the police station.

He had just returned to front line duties after a period of rehabilitation and reintegration following disciplinary processes in June 2007, said the authority.

When the patrol car arrived at the police station the prisoner was uncooperative and bleeding from his nose. He spat blood and mucus on the walls and a glass screen. Mr Lamb told him to wipe up the blood and mucus and when he refused to do so, Mr Lamb used his jersey to do so.

Mr Lamb completed a job sheet outlining the incident but did not refer to the use of any force.

Two days later he completed another report on the incident and said he had punched the man once and forcibly restrained him.

He was told several days later a criminal and employment investigation had started. He was stood down on February 23, and suspended on April 14. On November 18, 2009, he was acquitted of assault and told a month later the employment investigation would continue.

It would look at whether Mr Lamb had followed the police code of conduct and used good judgment.

After the inquiry Mr Lamb was told he would be sacked for serious misconduct.

The authority found Mr Lamb was guilty of serious misconduct for failing to report the use of force soon after the incident in the patrol car and for using the prisoner's jersey to wipe up blood and mucus.

- NZPA