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2h ago

Durham Detective Guilty of Gross Misconduct Over WFH ‘Key‑Jamming’ and Banned From Policing

Force leaders cast the case as a warning about remote‑work oversight, citing monitoring data that exposed approximately 45 hours of fabricated activity.

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The detective constable had permission to work remotely for two days a week
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Overview

  • A misconduct panel in Peterlee on September 29 found DC Niall Thubron guilty of gross misconduct and placed him on the College of Policing barred list.
  • Evidence showed 38 instances of key‑jamming over 12 days between December 3, 2024 and January 12, 2025, including more than 16,000 presses of the letter “i” in 90 minutes.
  • Thubron had been seconded to the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit with permission to work from home two days a week on serious organised‑crime investigations.
  • Durham’s network monitoring and a counter‑corruption audit flagged abnormal keystroke patterns, leading to the inquiry; Thubron did not attend the hearing.
  • He resigned in May and the panel said he would have been dismissed had he stayed in post, with Chief Constable Rachel Bacon calling the conduct deliberate dishonesty and noting he retains a right to appeal.