A police recruit was sacked after disclosing that he 'accidentally' smoked weed at a New Year's party just one month into his training.

Police Constable Jason Cron began training at Thames Valley Police's Sulhamstead centre in December 2023.

On January 4 this year, PC Cron approached a supervisor.

He told them of an incident at a New Year's party in Swindon.

His account is related in a report compiled by a police misconduct panel.

The report reads: "Cron stated that he had been involved in a situation over the New Year weekend when he was at a party in the Swindon area with his partner where he didn’t know anyone.

"The former officer advised that, during the party, he went outside and located a group of people smoking, and went to join them.

"During the conversation with the group, a cigarette was being passed around, and Cron admitted that he had had a few puffs on the cigarette before realising it was cannabis."

PC Cron told his supervisor that he had a row with his partner, who had threatened to tell the force about the cannabis.

This led the trainee to disclose the incident voluntarily.

The authors of the misconduct report state that they found PC Cron's claims of accidental weed inhalation 'wholly unconvincing.'

They said: "If the former officer had inadvertently smoked cannabis, he should have reported this at the earliest opportunity to a supervisor.

"He did not do this, and it was a number of days after the incident when he made the disclosure to his class trainer.

"My assumption from this is that Cron had no intention of doing so, and the only reason he reported the matter to his trainer was that his partner indicated that she was going to contact Thames Valley Police and report his behaviour."

On this basis, Thames Valley Police resolved to dismiss PC Cron.

At the time the incident came to light, the officer had only been in training for around a month.

The report concludes that PC Cron failed to understand the need for decorum, and the behaviour that was expected of serving police officers.

It states: "The fact that this conduct took place only weeks after joining TVP indicates that the former officer does not appreciate the responsibilities of being a police officer and the impact on one's personal life."