A former police officer took firecrackers from a search and kept them for himself rather than handing them in to evidence.

PC David Seal was found to have taken around a dozen firecrackers from a police search while investigating a cannabis farm.

The former police officer, who was a member of a bonfire society, was also found to have searched details about his girlfriend’s ex-partner on a police database because he was “up to no good”.

A disciplinary hearing at Sussex Police HQ today found that former PC Seal had been involved in a stop and search at a cannabis farm in East Sussex at the beginning of November 2022.

During the search, PC Seal found around ten or 15 firecrackers which he then failed to hand in to evidence.

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The hearing also heard that later in that month, PC Seal had been deployed in Battle when he asked a fellow officer to detour while driving to find a vehicle connected with his girlfriend’s ex-partner, called Person A.

When questioned about why he needed to investigate Person A, PC Seal said that he had been “up to no good”.

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It was found that there was no proper policing purpose for PC Seal to investigate Person A.

The former officer was also found to have abused his position to search police records for Person A and to have performed number plate checks on cars belonging to Person A and PC Seal’s partner, referred to as female B.

The misconduct hearing found that PC Seal would have been sacked from the force had he not quit Sussex Police in May 2023.

His actions were found to amount to gross misconduct.

PC Seal will also be added o the College of Policing barred list meaning he would be banned from police work.

Detective Superintendent Jon Robeson, deputy head of the force’s Professional Standards Department, said: “Police officers must behave in a manner that does not discredit the police service or undermine public confidence, whether on or off duty.

“The unacceptable conduct that has been heard here will not be tolerated but this poor behaviour should not overshadow the hard work by the vast majority of our officers, staff and volunteers within Sussex Police."