Police refuse to name ‘Weed Boss’ constable

A SCANDAL-HIT police force has refused to name a special constable who referred to himself as “Weed Boss” and escaped prosecution despite being found at the scene of a cannabis farm.

The officer was placed under investigation in May 2019 after colleagues at Cleveland Police inadvertently discovered cannabis worth £20,000 at his girlfriend’s house in Middlesbrough.

But he was never charged in connection with the find and has now been granted anonymity by the force’s disciplinary panel despite being sacked for gross misconduct and banned from serving again.

A misconduct hearing was told the special constable joined the force in March 2018 as a community support volunteer.

On May 27, 2019, he was standing outside his girlfriend’s home, when police officers responding to an emergency call arrived at the wrong address and discovered a large number of cannabis plants in the garage of the property.

He failed to reveal he was a special constable and was only identified when his warrant card was found in his girlfriend’s bedroom.

He claimed he knew nothing about the farm, even though the electricity supply had been bypassed and there was a strong smell of drugs in the house.

The officer’s phone was also found to contain a picture of a cannabis leaf and had the words ‘Weed Boss’ on it.

He resigned in June last year, but a disciplinary hearing was held in his absence, to consider six allegations in relation to “honesty and integrity, discreditable conduct and authority, respect and courtesy”.

Referred to as Officer A, he was found guilty of gross misconduct and misconduct on three of six charges.

Supt Paul Waugh said: “The individual has already ceased to act as a special constable but had they still been serving it would have led to dismissal without notice.

“The former special constable will now be placed on the College of Policing Barred List so they cannot work in policing again.”

The force, named as one of the worst in the country by watchdogs, is seeking its seventh chief constable since 2012.