Sign up to FREE email alerts from LancsLive - daily Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A Lancashire police officer who was once awarded for his bravery would have been dismissed if he hadn't have resigned first, a Misconduct Hearing has found.

However, PS Matthew Moon left the force before he could be dismissed for a salary con.

Moon made records in the force Duty Management System (DMS) to document his hours of work and compensation that was due to the former Sergeant, the panel found.

These records outlined either overtime pay or compensatory time off.

However the records were "deliberately inaccurate" as they overstated the time in which PS Moon was entitled to.

As a result, the panel found that Moon’s actions amounted to gross misconduct and breached the standards of professional behaviour in terms of honesty and integrity, orders and instructions, duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct.

He has now been placed on the College of Policing Barred Officers List.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "Taking all the evidence into account the panel found that PS Moon made records in the force Duty Management System (DMS) for the purposes of documenting his hours of work and/or compensation due to him (whether by way of overtime pay or compensatory time off). These records were deliberately inaccurate, overstating the time which PS Moon had worked and/or the compensation he was entitled to.

"The panel found PS Moon’s actions amounted to gross misconduct and breached the standards of Professional Behaviour in the areas of: Honesty & Integrity, Orders & Instructions, Duties & Responsibilities, Discreditable Conduct.

"PS Moon resigned from the force prior to the Misconduct Hearing and the Panel determined that had he still been in service they would have dismissed him without notice.

"Former PS Moon has been placed on the College of Policing Barred Officers List."

It was only in 2013 when PS Moon was recognised for his contribution to neighbourhood policing in South Ribble.

In a special ceremony, the former officer was rewarded for his involvement in an initiative to tackle gang-related criminality and anti-social behaviour on the Kingsfold Estate in Penwortham.

The College of Policing website, where Moon is named on the list of Policing Barred Officers, states: "The officer used the Duty Management System to enter deliberately inaccurate information; overstating the time which he had worked and/or the compensation he was entitled to and was recklessly inaccurate, overstating the time which he had worked and/or the compensation to which he was entitled to."