County lines officer blamed cocaine finding on antibiotics
AN OFFICER of the British Transport Police blamed a positive cocaine test on antibiotics despite experts asserting she “repeatedly used” the class A drug, an employment tribunal heard.
Jenny O’boy was working as a field intelligence officer investigating county lines drug gangs when she was given a test using a strand of her hair.
The results came back positive but O’boy contested the validity of the findings and claimed the strand had been “contaminated”.
She suggested her recent prescription for amoxicillin a few months before the test was carried out in September 2017 was a possible explanation for the error.
‘Reports said on the balance of probabilities she either consumed cocaine or was in environment laden with it’
However, even the expert report O’boy commissioned herself concluded that she had tested positive for a cocaine metabolite.
A forensic toxicologist said the test had demonstrated the “repeated use of cocaine” by O’boy.
The officer, who had served with the force for eight years, was placed on restricted duties following the test.
She then resigned in June 2018 after she was placed on sick leave following an anxiety attack.
After her resignation she tried to sue the BTP for unfair dismissal and whistle-blowing issues.
She claimed that her employers did not manage her investigation “fairly or reasonably”, and that it was “pursued based on unreliable evidence”.
However, employment judge Andrew James, sitting at Central London Employment Court, said O’boy’s claims had no grounds as the investigation had been handled properly and she had resigned.
The judge added that the BTP was rightfully entitled to conduct an investigation as her work, in particular as a field intelligence officer, meant that she was involved in police work concerning controlled drugs and county lines.
A tribunal report said: “The expert reports it received concluded on the balance of probabilities that the claimant had either consumed cocaine and/ or was in an environment laden with cocaine.”
The tribunal made no finding as to whether O’boy had taken cocaine.