Policeman barred over ambulance driver work on sick leave

Former police constable Mark Logan, who worked at the force’s headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, was added to the College of Policing’s barred list over his second job as a driver for the East of England Ambulance Service.

According to the misconduct outcome published yesterday (August 6), Logan had been employed by the service through the agency Veho Solutions Ltd since February 2022, but only ever worked on rest days or annual leave.

But Herts Assistant Chief Constable Amanda Bell ruled he breached the police rules on business interests and their standards of honesty and integrity when he continued to work there while on an extended period of sick leave from his police work from May 2023.

Mark Logan has been barred from serving as a police officer for life. (Image: Will Durrant/LDRS) The former police officer, who did not attend the virtual hearing on July 23, apologised in writing for not submitting a business interest form, claiming it was a “genuine oversight” as he did not believe it necessary to report it to his employer.

He had worked with Hertfordshire Police for 20 years, but claimed he had had a “really poor experience” there in recent years, culminating in him being moved to a different role on May 25, 2023, which required a return to shift work.

Logan said this “significantly” impacted his childcare arrangements, leading him to take time off from work from May 31 until his retirement last December.

But on July 31, a witness notified a detective chief inspector that the then-officer had been seen working as an ambulance driver while on leave, who reported him to the misconduct panel.

Logan worked at Herts Police's HQ in Welwyn Garden City. (Image: Herts police) The misconduct hearing heard he earned a total £3,645 from his second job from 22 shifts across June, July and August 2023, in addition to his sick pay.

In an interview last October, Logan told the investigation officer he “felt better, felt appreciated” while working for the ambulance service rather than police, because it meant he was not “sat in [his] front room on [his] own getting frustrated, angry, anxious.”

He claimed the DCI who reported him to the misconduct authority had “gone after [him] to punish [him]”.

Assistant Chief Constable Amanda Bell ruled that Logan’s actions amounted to gross misconduct and he would have been dismissed if he had not already retired from the Hertfordshire Constabulary on December 15.