A former Sussex Police officer would have been sacked for dishonesty had he not resigned, the force said today (Friday 21 August).
PC Chris Fursdon, who was based in Brighton and Hove, “has been found to have committed multiple breaches of the force’s professional standards,” Sussex Police said.
The force said: “Chris Fursdon, who was a police constable on Brighton and Hove Division, was subject to an accelerated misconduct hearing on Friday 14 August.
“Fursdon faced four allegations of breaching the force’s professional standards in respect to honesty and integrity.
“In November 2024, Fursdon was due to begin work at 9pm, but instead went on a date and did not arrive to work until 12.50am the following morning.
“Shortly after arriving, he requested dependent’s leave for the period in which he was late, claiming he had been in hospital with a relative.
“Separately, he claimed to a superviser that he had been stopped by the police during his period of lateness for driving at over 100mph. This claim was found to be false.
“Fursdon was also found to have told multiple other lies, including providing false information about an end of his relationship, claiming that an inspector had authorised him to search for a relative as a missing person while on duty and claiming to have been a Royal Marine prior to joining Sussex Police.
“He resigned from the force in December 2025.
“The hearing found all of the allegations proven and Fursdon was told he would be dismissed had he not already resigned from the force.
“He has been placed on the College of Policing’s barred list to ensure he can never work in policing again.”
Detective Inspector Laura Hillier-Diamond said: “Honesty and integrity is central to policing. The public must have confidence that officers and staff can be trusted and behave ethically in all they do.
“This former police constable’s catalogue of lies paint a picture of an individual wholly unsuited to a career in policing and the sanctions delivered at this hearing ensure he will never serve with another force again.”
So, are they going to recover the salary and training costs as he was taking money under the false pretence of having been a Marine? The thing this highlights is the inadequacy of fundamental checks and references. Where is our politico PCC, off on another march or on the campaign trail? It seems to me that the whole recruitment scenario is not robust enough to pass professional standards.
Childish lies by a prat. Probably goes on in the ordinary workplace every hour of every day. In the old days a superior would have shaken him by the throat and told him to grow up.
The checks were never done, a simple request from Police to M.O.D would have sorted that in 20 seconds,