Trainee PC drew red lines on a COVID-19 test to get time off work

He resigned from the force a day after his deception was uncovered.

How a positive COVID-19 test really looks.

A trainee police officer drew red lines on a COVID-19 test strip to get time off work, and a misconduct hearing was told. Ahmed Anwari told his training last December that he had to stay at home because of a positive lateral flow test result.

His deception was uncovered when he was asked to send a photograph of the result as proof, and it became "clear that the test had been manually altered with drawn red lines". The Lancashire Constabulary officer was then invited to take a coronavirus test at a Microsoft Teams meeting in which he again falsely claimed the result was positive.

When confronted, Mr Anwari admitted falsifying the results and lying about them as he said he did it so he could stay at home under self-isolation rules at the time. He resigned from the force a day later.

Chairing Monday's hearing, Chief Constable Chris Rowley found that former PC 2568 Ahmed Anwari breached standards of professional behaviour and, in doing so, committed gross misconduct.

He said: "I find that Mr Anwari still been a member of Lancashire Constabulary would have been dismissed. Police officers must always consider that the public expects them to maintain high standards of professional behaviour."

Mr Anwari chose not to attend the hearing in Ormskirk and was not legally represented.