A former member of Dorset Police staff from Swanage, has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to the theft of almost £15,000 while at work at the force’s Winfrith headquarters.
Lisa Arnold, aged 52, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Wednesday 25th January 2023 for her sentencing, having previously admitted last December at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court to taking the money from police evidence bags.
Tampered exhibit bag containing cash
Dorset Police say that concerns were first raised in June 2020 with the force’s counter corruption unit, reporting that an exhibit bag containing cash had been tampered with.
Subsequently, further incidents were identified involving exhibit bags containing cash that had not been counted yet for evidential reasons. The completion of audits of a property store revealed further tampered items.
Cash of nearly £15,000 was seized from her Swanage home
An investigation was undertaken by the counter corruption unit to identify the individual involved, including financial checks and the inspection of access records to the relevant store areas.
This led to Lisa Arnold being identified as the suspect. She was arrested in March 2022 and a search of her home address in Swanage led to £14,494.20 in cash being seized.
Following the arrest, she was immediately suspended from work and formally resigned from Dorset Police in May 2022.
“Our officers and members of staff are expected to execute their duties with integrity”
Dorset Police deputy chief constable Sam de Reya said:
“I hope that this investigation demonstrates that we will robustly investigate suspected wrongdoing by members of our organisation and undertake swift action.
“Our officers and members of staff are expected to execute their duties with integrity. On this occasion a staff member has fallen short of those standards and been found guilty of a criminal offence.
“We will pursue and deal with those who seek to undermine the trust that is placed in us by the public and let down colleagues and the police service.”
