Police officer could be sacked for sticking 7p carrot barcode on pack of doughnuts

The doughnuts typically retail at £9.95 for a box of 12

A police officer could be set for the sack after 'paying' for a pack of doughnuts with a seven pence sticker removed from the vegetable aisle. He is said to have scanned a single carrot, before using that barcode to pay for a box of 12 doughnuts at a self-service checkout. Preliminary reports suggest the incident is "so serious that dismissal would be justified". The incident occurred at a Tesco Extra supermarket in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire on February 10th this year - while the officer was on duty and in full uniform. He is alleged to have removed a seven pence sticker from a scanned carrot before using it to purchase a box of 12 Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Krispy Kreme doughnuts usually retail for £9.95, so that is one hefty discount. The officer in question, Police Constable Simon Read, works for Cambridgeshire Constabulary. He is set to face a disciplinary hearing regarding the incident, which could result in dismissal from the police force. According to documents seen as part of the investigation, it is said that PC Read took the pack of Krispy Kremes off the shelf and headed to Tesco Extra's fruit and vegetable aisle. He is then alleged to have scanned a single carrot, which produced a barcode worth seven pence. It has then been alleged that PC Read stuck this barcode over the original £9.95 Krispy Kreme one, before heading to the checkout to pay for his goods. His two-day hearing will begin on November 25th. Other documents seen as part of the investigation claim his behaviour "brings discredit upon the police service and undermines confidence in it because a reasonable member of the public, aware of all the facts, would be justifiably appalled that a police officer had acted dishonestly and without integrity". The preliminary report can be viewed here