Police officer accused of attending house party during Covid lockdown
16 February 2021, 17:30
A police officer has been accused of breaching coronavirus regulations by attending a house party during lockdown and then later caught drink-driving.
Pc Tasia Stephens, 24, was off duty on the night of Saturday April 25 last year when she allegedly attended the family event and then later failed a breathalyser test after crashing her car into a building.
The South Wales Police officer will face a misconduct hearing over allegations of breaking lockdown rules, driving when unfit, and that being convicted of the offences amounts to discreditable conduct.
At the time of the allegations the entire UK was under strict stay-at-home rules, with people in Wales banned from meeting either indoors or outdoors with people they did not live with.
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The alleged incident happened just one day after First Minister Mark Drakeford had announced Wales's first lockdown exit plan.
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A notice of the misconduct hearing on the police force's website said: "It is alleged that Pc Tasia Stephens, when off duty, on the night of 25/26 April 2020, breached Welsh Government lockdown restrictions by attending a family house party.
"That on the same night she then drove when unfit to do so, colliding her car with a building.
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"Having failed a breathalyser test that night, the officer was subsequently convicted in the magistrates' court of driving a motor vehicle when over the prescribed limit."
The notice said it was alleged that, if proven, the breaches would amount to "gross misconduct that is so serious as to justify dismissal".
The hearing will take place on Monday in Pencoed, Bridgend, but is closed to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
