Met Police officers caught taking cocaine, weed and laughing gas in drug tests

04 November 2023 , 16:18

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Random drug testing of police officers as increased (Image: Getty Images)

The Metropolitan Police have weeded out 36 druggie cops in less than three years, including one who got high on laughing gas.

A February 2021 hearing said PC Aaron Smith, who told his inspector about inhaling nitrous oxide and also took cocaine, would have been sacked had he not quit. And among the 11 officers in the Greater London force ranked sergeant or above to be disciplined was Commander Julian Bennett – sacked this week for refusing a drugs test, although he was cleared of smoking dope at home.

The statistics for January 2020 to November 2022 include the case of PC William Holyoake, who got a community order for possessing cannabis and offensive weapons. He was caught with weed, three police-issued batons and a butterfly knife, and was taken to a criminal court where he was handed a community order.

One officer admitted inhaling laughing gas (Getty Images)

And DC Stephen Proctor was fired and PC Matthew Thomas quit after both failed drugs tests. He worked in the Metropolitan Police’s South East Basic Command Unit, and was after a hearing found he had breached the force’s standards of professional behaviour for discreditable conduct.

And just last week a disciplinary hearing was told an armed cop in the elite diplomatic protection unit had jeopardised security by sniffing cocaine. PC Matthew Thomas was rumbled when his number was found in a dealer’s phone. He failed a work drugs test in May and quit before he could be fired for gross misconduct. The Met said random testing had increased and in 2023, seven of 968 tests proved positive.

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