Investigation into reports that senior officer gave false evidence at victim inquests – Devon and Cornwall Police, June 2023

In December 2020, a man had a shotgun and firearms certificate seized by Devon and Cornwall Police’s Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit (FELU). Both were returned to him in July 2021. The man used the shotgun in August 2021 to shoot and kill five people.

In June 2023, we received a conduct referral from the force about a senior police officer who gave evidence at the inquest into the deaths of the victims of the mass shooting. The referral highlighted concerns about the accuracy of an aspect of this officer’s evidence.

We decided to independently investigate reports that the senior officer gave false evidence during the inquests, specifically in relation to their role managing the FELU in the months prior to the shootings.

We were unable to interview the senior officer as they were deemed medically unfit to be interviewed. This meant we were unable to fully question and challenge the senior officer. They gave two written responses which we considered. We also obtained a statement from the senior officer’s line manager, obtained transcripts from the inquest into the deaths of the victims, and the senior officer’s HR and medical records.

We concluded there was an indication that the senior officer had committed a criminal offence and had behaved in a manner to justify disciplinary proceedings.

We found the discrepancies in the senior officer’s evidence around their sickness absence significant. The exaggeration and untruthfulness of the duration and return date of their absence from work and time spent in hospital could be an attempt to distance themselves from the shootings and poor supervision and leadership of the FELU.

As a senior police officer, higher ranking officers are expected to be accountable to courts and other forums to answer questions on behalf of their force in respect of their actions and leadership. It was the responsibility of the senior officer to ensure they were fully prepared to give accurate evidence to the court. Our evidence indicated this was not the case.

The officer held a senior policing role and was expected to uphold and maintain high standards, displaying diligence in their duties. In this case, they fell below the standards of an officer of their rank and level of responsibility.

Their conduct was likely to significantly undermine public confidence in policing and the reputation of Devon and Cornwall Police. Their evidence potentially curtailed questioning at the inquest, impacting the decisions of the coroner and not enabling the families of the victims to have accurate information about the death of their loved ones.

We referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in July 2024. They decided not to pursue criminal proceedings because the evidence did not present a realistic prospect of conviction for the offence of perjury.

We found that the officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct with regards to giving untruthful evidence under oath during an inquest. In doing so, they curtailed the questioning about their role and responsibilities during the months leading to the shooting. We shared our report with the force, who agreed. We decided that disciplinary proceedings should be brought against the officer and that they should take the form of a misconduct hearing.

The misconduct hearing concluded in October 2025. The senior officer was found not to have breached the police standards of professional behaviour, and no further action was taken.

The hearing found that the senior officer did not intentionally act with dishonesty, and the pressure of the inquest and questioning led to mistakes in their evidence.  

The officer resigned from the force in October 2024.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

We did not identify any organisational learning in this case.