Skive got a winner! PC who ‘pulled a sickie’ to go to Ascot is seen on TV celebrating after race
A POLICE officer who had called in sick for work was then pictured live on TV cheering as his horse won at Royal Ascot.
PC Jonathan Adams was seen punching the air and jumping for joy as Quiet Reflection – owned by a syndicate he was linked with – romped home.
It scooped £243,853 in prize money, beating a horse owned by former footballer Michael Owen into second place.
Before the races, PC Adams had told bosses at Gloucestershire Constabulary he was too ill to work and had the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
But he was filmed at the Berkshire course on June 17 last year, a disciplinary panel was told. Further investigations suggested he had also taken two other sick days to attend races in the previous nine months.
Stephen Morley, a lawyer for the police, said: ‘[PC Adams] said he found attending race meetings was genuinely therapeutic and helped him cope with stress and depression.’
Automatic number plate recognition data revealed on another of the sick days he was actually at Nottingham Racecourse watching a horse named Little Lady Katie, in which he owned a 2.5 per cent stake. On the third occasion he had been off work with a migraine, vomiting and diarrhoea but was also in Nottingham, it is alleged.
Mr Morley said PC Adams had tried to book annual leave for the week of the Royal Ascot, but it was refused.
His trips to the races emerged after he registered a business interest in the syndicate, called On To A Winner, and the application was looked into.
During the investigation, officers spotted the recording of the smartly-dressed officer celebrating with friends which was shown at the disciplinary hearing.
PC Adams told the misconduct panel he had not lied about being sick on the three occasions he went to the races.
Describing working at Barton Street police station in Gloucester as ‘toxic’, he added: ‘I saw it as me being responsible and taking myself away and getting myself better as soon as possible.’
His lawyer Richard Shepherd claimed it would not have raised eyebrows if the officer had gone ‘hill walking, sailing, or for a spa day’ but problems arose because racing did not have a reputation for being ‘clean and wholesome’.
But Mr Morley said: ‘Our position is he wasn’t sick at all, he was throwing a sickie to go horse-racing. You may think a public servant off sick with “a sore throat, bunged up and freezing” should be at home resting to make sure he is fit for work.’ The hearing continues.