Chief Constable of the MOD Police v Police Misconduct Panel: Salter principle not applied

A police misconduct panel erred in law by imposing final written warnings on two Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) officers found to have committed operational dishonesty, without recognising that dismissal is the almost inevitable outcome in such cases, the High Court has held.

In R (Chief Constable of the Ministry of Defence Police) v Police Misconduct Panel [2026] EWHC 2848 (Admin), Fordham J quashed the sanctions imposed on PCs David Cornes and Neil McRobb and remitted the question of outcome for fresh consideration.

In March 2024, a 9mm round went missing from one officer's magazine during a shift. Neither officer recorded or reported the loss. One signed the firearms logbook confirming that all 30 rounds had been returned, and the other certified that all weapons and ammunition had been mustered and were correct. The magazine was placed at the back of the armoury safe. The panel found the officers had carried out an adequate search, but rejected their explanation that the magazine was set aside as a reminder, finding its concealment deliberate.

The panel found gross misconduct involving operational dishonesty, assessing culpability as high and harm towards the higher end of the scale. It nonetheless imposed five-year final written warnings, describing the dishonesty as "at the lower end of the scale" and citing the officers' admissions, insight, remorse, unblemished records and the brief duration of the episode.

The Chief Constable challenged the decision on three grounds: failure to apply the legally required approach, inadequate reasons, and failure to adopt the only reasonable outcome. Neither the panel nor the officers took part, so the court identified the arguments available in the panel's defence.

The required approach derives from Salter v Chief Constable of Dorset [2012] EWCA Civ 1047, in which the Court of Appeal endorsed Burnett J's formulation that leaving the force is the almost inevitable outcome of operational dishonesty, with exceptions being very few and requiring the decision-maker to identify the features that make a case exceptional. The principle is reflected in Section 5 of the College of Policing's 2023 Guidance on Outcomes. Although the MDP scheme has a distinct statutory basis, Fordham J held that the Guidance was an obviously material consideration, and that the Salter principle applied in any event as a principle developed by the courts.

The judge accepted that Salter requires substance rather than an express self-direction. However, the panel's reasons showed it had applied Section 4 of the Guidance, which deals with assessing seriousness and culpability, but not Section 5. The panel quoted the Guidance closely elsewhere, yet included no language reflecting "almost inevitable" dismissal, a "very small residual category" or exceptional features. The legal adviser's advice likewise omitted Salter. The "irresistible inference" was that Section 5 was not in the panel's mind, even though counsel on both sides had referred to it.

Describing the dishonesty as at the lower end of the scale did not amount to applying the principle, still less to giving adequate reasons for an exceptional course, as no explanation or amplification was given. The judge stressed that the case involved a required audit trail for firearms, dishonest certification in a firearms logbook and deliberate concealment, making it especially important that Salter was addressed squarely. The omission was a material public law error.

Grounds one and two succeeded. Following R (O'Connor) v Police Misconduct Panel [2025] EWCA Civ 27, the matter was remitted to the same panel, or a differently constituted one if necessary. The court expressed no view on whether dismissal was the only reasonable outcome, leaving that evaluative judgement to the specialist panel.

James Berry KC and Chloe Hill (instructed by the Government Legal Department) appeared for the claimant. The defendant and interested parties did not appear and were not represented.