A POLICE officer has been sacked after being found guilty of gross misconduct, following an incident in which she left work to see her fiancé to prevent him being arrested.

A misconduct hearing on February 3 found two allegations against serving police constable Sarah Cohen, aged 38, of Lifton, were proven and that her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

The officer had ‘self-deployed’ while on duty at Launceston Police Station, without informing the control room, to deal with an incident involving her fiancé, James Reading.

A police spokesman said her intention was to prevent her fiancé from being arrested. She then took possession of Mr Reading’s property, including a knife, in such a way that contravened force policy.

PC Cohen had been on duty at Launceston Police Station when her fiancé rang her in the early hours in November 2011. He said he was at Meldon Dam, near Okehampton, and was contemplating suicide.

She went to calm him down but ended up using incapacitant spray to subdue him. He was held under the Mental Health Act and not arrested.

Within hours she discovered he had gone to the dam after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl after plying her with alcohol.

Mr Reading went on the run but was later convicted of sexual assault and jailed for ten years.

The panel found that Ms Cohen had breached standards of professional behaviour amounting to gross misconduct. She was dismissed from the police service without notice.

Deputy Chief Constable Bill Skelly said: “We expect the highest standards of professional behaviour from all our officers and staff, even when faced with difficult decisions under pressure and in the face of ethical dilemmas. The force and the public expect all police officers and staff to be honest at all times and to make sound judgements.

“The officer’s behaviour in this case directly contradicts our force’s values, the Code of Ethics and the Standards of Professional Behaviour — it was neither the right thing, nor done in the right way.”