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Panel Rules Ex-Met Detective’s On-Duty Drinking Was Gross Misconduct

The decision cites CCTV plus staff testimony showing he drank wine while assigned to custody duties, leaving him unfit to handle a prisoner.

Overview

  • Former detective constable Sean Brierley went to Gravity Well Taproom near Leyton on July 2, 2025 after being told a suspect was not yet ready to be interviewed.
  • Bar CCTV recorded him buying three glasses of white wine over roughly two hours while on duty.
  • CCTV and witness accounts described him returning to the station unsteady, off balance, and later assessed by staff as smelling of alcohol with slurred speech.
  • Colleagues arranged a welfare check at about 12:20am, where officers found him disoriented at home and “staring at the ceiling in a glazed manner,” the ruling noted.
  • Panel chair Commander Katie Lilburn said his actions were intentional and planned, and the panel concluded he would have been dismissed had he not already resigned.