A POLICE officer has been sacked for allegedly stealing money from a wallet that was handed into Monmouth police station.

PC Stephen Davies was investigated by an internal disciplinary panel from 5th to 9th March despite being cleared by Cardiff Crown Court of theft.

The public misconduct panel heard that it was alleged that Davies stole £50 in cash from a wallet that had been handed in to the station in June 2016.

The wallet had been lost by its owner, Mr Thomas Dowden, who had dropped it outside a pub but was found the next day by a passing jogger.

When the wallet was handed in to the police it had £50 in notes inside, but when Mr Dowden collected it later the money had vanished.

It was claimed that Davies lied to a PCSO saying he was unaware of whether there was cash in the wallet.

The panel heard that Davies was aware that it was being alleged that money was missing and attempted to cover up his theft by withdrawing £50 in cash from his bank account and pretending to find the money he had stolen on the floor of Monmouth police station on 14th June 2016.

The panel said that PC Stephen Davies was found guilty of breaching the standards of professional behaviour “on the balance of probabilities rather than the criminal standard of proof which is beyond all reasonable doubt.”

The officer from Pontypool was dismissed without notice as a result of the panel’s findings.