Police officer dismissed from the Met after housing benefit fraud

 
8 January 2013
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A police officer was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police today after being convicted of fraud in relation to housing benefits.

Pc Stephen Holt, 43, had already pleaded guilty to two criminal charges and been sentenced to 200 hours community service.

The 43-year-old, who unlawfully sublet his council flat, was caught out when he rented out the property to an undercover BBC journalist.

Holt offered to rent his council property to the reporter at £359 more than he pays Southwark council in weekly rent, according to a Panorama investigation.

He offered the flat to the reporter at £450 for the week. Rent on the flat is normally £91 a week.

Today a Scotland Yard misconduct panel found today that his actions discredited the police service and he was dismissed.

Commander Allan Gibson, of the Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "Having considered all available options, the panel found that due to the serious nature of the offences for which he has been convicted, there was only one appropriate outcome in this case and Pc Holt was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) without notice.

"There is no doubt that the actions of Pc Holt brought discredit on the MPS and reflect badly on the thousands of officers who are honest and work tirelessly for the people of London."

Pc Holt, who was based on a Safer Neighbourhoods team in Southwark, was suspended from police duties before his arrest in November 2011.

He admitted two counts of fraud at Croydon Crown Court on November 15 last year, and was sentenced on December 20.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in