A Wiltshire Police officer has been dismissed immediately after repeatedly lying to his managers and failing to complete duties.

In a hearing held at Wiltshire Police Headquarters between October 1 and October 2, PC Mat Hodge was found to have committed gross misconduct and breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour for police officers.

In January 2024, PC Hodge was employed to deliver mandatory refresher training to armed officers as part of his role as a Firearms Instructor at the Blackrock Specialist Training Centre.

This was never delivered despite telling his managers that the training had been completed multiple times and that officers could be signed off as having completed the training.

As a result of the hearing in which all allegations of lies and deception against PC Hodge were upheld, he has now been immediately dismissed and barred from ever working in policing in the future.

“PC Hodge’s actions were far below the standards expected of him and could have had potentially serious consequences," said Deputy Chief Constable Craig Dibdin.

"Thankfully, his failure to deliver the required training to his colleagues was uncovered extremely quickly and all those impacted have been provided with the refresher training they needed as part of their role.

The misconduct hearing was conducted at Wiltshire Police HQ in DevizesThe misconduct hearing was conducted at Wiltshire Police HQ in Devizes 

“We expect, and our communities expect, nothing but the highest standards of honesty and integrity from our officers, staff and volunteers and we will continue to root out those that, through their actions, seek to undermine the trust and confidence our communities place in us. 

“I’d like to thank those who came forward to provide evidence as part of this case. It takes courage to report wrongdoing but it is essential in ensuring that we can ensure we have only the highest possible standards within our organisation."

Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson added: "Wiltshire’s residents rightly expect the highest standards from serving police officers. I demand this of the Chief Constable and she demands, and enforces this, from her officers.

"In this case, former PC Hodge fell below these standards in so many respects.

“We should not under-estimate how, due to the nature of the training not delivered, there could have been potentially serious consequences for armed police officers across our three policing regions and, more importantly, for residents too - who trust in the police to keep them safe.

 “I would like to reassure residents this training gap was spotted within days and the necessary training was subsequently delivered to those officers affected.

"I am seeking reassurance from the Chief Constable that something like this cannot happen again.”