Information

Pension Forfeiture 

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Northamptonshire is the Pension Service Authority (PSA) for Northamptonshire Police and is therefore responsible for the submission of applications for pension forfeiture to the Home Secretary. The legislative basis for police pension forfeiture is found in regulation K5 of the 1987 Regulations, regulation 55 of the 2006 Regulations and Chapter 5 of Part 13 to the 2015 Regulations. Each of these regulations contain provisions which allow a PSA to determine forfeiture in cases where either;

• a pension scheme member has been convicted of treason or of offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1939 and has been sentenced to a term (or terms) of imprisonment of at least ten years. or;

• where a pension scheme member has been convicted of an offence committed in connection with his or her service as a member of a police force.

The Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) also has a policy for Pension Forfeiture which sets out the local process. A copy of the policy can be found on the OPFCC website here:

 

Background 

On the 31/08/2022 former PC Gareth Cox (GC) was convicted of one count of Computer Misuse and five counts of breaches of the Data Protection Act. GC pleaded guilty to the offences and was sentenced to a twelve-week suspended sentence, reduced to eight weeks, due to his early plea. He was also ordered to wear a tag, to abide by curfew conditions and complete 200 hours community service. Prior to his conviction, GC had been a serving officer with Northamptonshire Police since 1996 and had 26 years of service. Following his conviction GC was dismissed from Northamptonshire Police.

 

Pension Forfeiture Process 

The OPFCC applied to the Secretary of State for a certificate of pension forfeiture which was granted on the 16/10/2024. In line with local processes, a Pension Forfeiture Panel Meeting was held by the OPFCC on the 23/01/2025 to determine whether the pension should be forfeited and, if so, to what extent. It should be noted that a maximum of 65% of the pension can be forfeited and that this can be on a permanent basis or for a set period of time. The Pension Forfeiture Panel was Chaired by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone, along with the OPFCC Chief Executive Jonny Bugg and OPFCC Chief Finance Officer Vaughan Ashcroft. The Panel heard representations made by Northamptonshire Police and on behalf of GC by Police Federation Representative, Sam Dobbs. GC, who was a Police Federation member at the time of his dismissal, was not able to attend the panel in person, however the OPFCC agreed that representations could be made on his behalf by Mr Dobbs. GC, through Mr Dobbs, contends that the criminal sanction has impacted on his earning capacity and private life and caused the loss of his reputation and career. This has resulted in ill health. GC referenced his long service and prior good conduct as mitigation and drew the panels attention to four stated cases.

 

Deliberations

During deliberations the panel considered both representations made to the panel on behalf of GC and from Northamptonshire Police Head of Professional Standards.  The panel considered the APACCE Pension Forfeiture Guidance and Toolkit; which can be found here. It sets out that an initial benchmark for consideration of pension forfeiture in cases of Computer Misuse is 20%. The Panel agreed that this a reasonable starting point and noted importance of consistency in decision making that adopting this approach will assist in delivering. The Panel also considered the PFCC Police Officer Pension Forfeiture Policy and Process; the Home Office Guidance on Police pension forfeiture and the relevant guidance set out in Harrinton v Metropolitan Police Authority [A2006 7706] to assist in determining the precise amount, that should be forfeited.

The panel considered the following specific factors in reaching their decision:

• Public Confidence: it was considered that offences of Computer Misuse and Data Protection breaches will likely cause more harm to public confidence than to specified victims, however, the panel noted the vital challenge of rebuilding public trust in policing. The maintenance of public confidence in policing is important. There is a connection between the offences and the officer’s police service and the offence is liable to lead to a serious loss of confidence in a public service.

• Seriousness of the offence: The Report prepared by Northamptonshire Police as part of the application for police forfeiture provides details of GC’s convictions at Leicester Magistrates Court on 31/08/2022. He pleaded guilty to the offences and was sentenced on 20/09/2022 and received a custodial sentence which was suspended. There were multiple offences which were committed over a period of approximately twelve months whilst GC was a serving police officer and had access to a wealth of confidential police information. The panel determined that these factors raised the level of seriousness.

The panel did note that the offences were not committed to aid criminality or for financial gain. It was considered that this provided some mitigation in respect of seriousness.

• Personal Mitigation: The panel considered the representations made on behalf of GC and acknowledged the mitigating circumstances. These included; a guilty plea to the offences; GCs ongoing financial commitments and that any forfeiture would have an impact on these commitments; the adverse impact forfeiture may have on GCs health and GCs 26 years of good service prior to the offences.

 

Determination of the Panel 

The panel considered their role and responsibilities in line with regulation K5 of the 1987 Regulations and determined, for the reasons set out and having regard to all of the circumstances, that the pension should be subject to forfeiture. The panel were satisfied that maintenance of public confidence in the integrity of the police is a legitimate and important matter of public interest, which for the general public good justifies overriding the rights of the individual under Article 1, Protocol 1. Forfeiture will be at 10% of the whole pension and will be permanent.

 

Decision taken 

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has taken the decision that in this case forfeiture will be at 10% of the whole pension and will be permanent.

 

Details of advice taken 

Professional legal advice has been sought throughout the process to ensure the OPFCC met all its statutory obligations in relation to the pension forfeiture process.