Adam Gardiner

Introduction

Adam Gardiner was a police constable with Essex Police who lost his policing career in November 2025 after driving a force vehicle while more than three times the drink-drive limit, failing to stop for police, and crashing on a motorway in Devon. He admitted driving with excess alcohol and dangerous driving and received a ten-month suspended prison sentence at Exeter Crown Court in July 2026. An accelerated misconduct hearing chaired by Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington found his conduct amounted to gross misconduct across six professional standards, ruled that he would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving, and placed him on the College of Policing barred list.

Background Information

Gardiner served as a constable with Essex Police and, in November 2025, travelled to Devon and Cornwall in an Essex Police vehicle to attend a force-funded course. He failed to attend the course and did not tell his sergeant why he was absent. At the time of the incident he was on duty, outside the Essex Police force area, driving an unmarked Essex Police vehicle. He was described at the conclusion of proceedings as being of previous good character.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

On 21 November 2025, police began receiving reports that the Essex Police vehicle was being driven erratically — swerving between lanes, nearly colliding with other motorists and failing to maintain a steady speed. Devon and Cornwall Police officers witnessed the driving and tried to stop Gardiner, but he refused to pull over. On the hard shoulder, he reversed the Essex Police vehicle into a Devon and Cornwall Police patrol car, then sped away, reaching more than 110mph before steering across three lanes and crashing into an Armco barrier. Gardiner was identified as the driver and arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, driving while over the prescribed limit and failing to stop. Breath tests produced readings of 114 and 115 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, against a legal limit of 35. Body-worn video captured both his driving and the moment he reversed into the police vehicle, and he apologised to the Devon and Cornwall officers at the scene. He was suspended from duty shortly after his release from custody.

Gardiner was charged by Devon and Cornwall Police with driving while over the prescribed limit and dangerous driving. He admitted both offences, and on 27 July 2026 he appeared at Exeter Crown Court, where he was sentenced to ten months in prison suspended for two years, with a concurrent three-month sentence for the drink-driving charge, a two-and-a-half-year driving disqualification and a victim surcharge of £1,630. He also admitted at the misconduct proceedings that he was on duty, had driven the vehicle in the manner alleged and was over the alcohol limit.

An accelerated misconduct hearing chaired by Essex Police Chief Constable Ben-Julian (BJ) Harrington was held in private on 30 January 2026, with publication restricted until the criminal proceedings concluded on 27 July 2026. Gardiner had resigned before the hearing and did not attend. The panel found six standards of professional behaviour proven: authority, respect and courtesy; use of force; orders and instructions; duties and responsibilities; fitness for duty; and discreditable conduct. A standard of honesty and integrity was not found proven. In an unusual ruling, the chief constable found that reversing into the patrol car constituted an “unnecessary use of force” that placed other people — and Gardiner himself — at risk. His behaviour was found to amount to gross misconduct, and the outcome determined was that he would have been dismissed without notice had he not already resigned.

Adjudicated and admitted. The drink-driving and dangerous driving are admitted criminal convictions, dealt with at Exeter Crown Court. The six breaches of professional standards are findings of a police misconduct panel chaired by the chief constable, made on the balance of probabilities — regulatory adjudications rather than court judgments, although the conduct underlying them was the same conduct Gardiner admitted in court.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Chief Constable BJ Harrington described Gardiner as “fully culpable” and warned that his actions could have caused serious harm to motorists and to the officers trying to stop him. At the conclusion of the criminal proceedings he said: “Whilst the former officer was of previous good character, the serious, deliberate and dangerous nature of what he did meant he fell far short of the standards of professional behaviour that the force and the public expect… For a serving officer to be found over the limit is inexcusable and when added to the wider circumstances there could be no future for him in policing.” He added that Essex Police was committed to road safety and that irresponsible behaviour by officers using police vehicles would not be tolerated. The case was reported by Thurrock Nub News, EssexLive and Misconduct999 after publication restrictions lifted in late July and August 2026.

Current Status

Gardiner is a former police officer, having resigned from Essex Police before the misconduct hearing. He has a criminal record for driving with excess alcohol and dangerous driving, for which he is serving a ten-month suspended sentence, is disqualified from driving for two and a half years, and was ordered to pay a £1,630 victim surcharge. The gross misconduct finding was formally recorded with the outcome that he would have been dismissed without notice, and he has been placed on the College of Policing barred list, which prevents him from working in policing again.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Gardiner’s policing career ended with his resignation, and the barred-list placement means the door is permanently closed on any return to the profession; the chief constable said there could be “no future for him in policing”. A previously well-regarded officer with no criminal record now has convictions for drink-driving and dangerous driving, a suspended prison sentence, and a driving disqualification. The misconduct record — six proven standards including the rare finding that reversing into a police car was an unnecessary use of force — was published in full once the criminal proceedings concluded.

Sources

• Misconduct999, “Essex Police Officer Was THREE TIMES Drink-drive Limit As He Fled Police At 110mph Before Reversing Into Patrol Car And Crashing Into Barrier” — source
• Thurrock Nub News, “Drink and dangerous driving sentence for discredited Essex police officer” — source
• EssexLive, “Officer struck off after crashing police car into barrier while drink driving” — source