A FORMER West Mercia Police Federation treasurer and secretary from Droitwich has been found guilty of 15 counts of fraud after abusing his position.
Jamie Harrison, 55, was convicted over the misappropriation of federation members’ funds and abuse of hospitality.
The five-week trial, at Hereford Crown Court, heard how Harrison abused his role to misuse around £13,500 of funds between 2012 and 2018.
Concerns were first raised to the national Police Federation in June 2018.
Based on the allegations, the federation commissioned auditors to review the financial accounts of the West Mercia branch and Harrison was suspended from his position as federation secretary and treasurer.
His role in the federation meant he was responsible for protecting the financial interests of the branch’s members.
The investigation identified he repeatedly abused this position by using petty cash to fund his personal spend on food, alcohol and entertainment and used fellow officers’ membership funds to pay for four-star hotel stays, meals and trips for his family.
He abused his position again by falsifying timesheets to receive and accept pay for full working shifts, even though text messages proved he was abroad watching rugby and on holiday.
Over 100 fraudulent financial claims were identified through the course of the investigation.
The West Mercia Police investigation has been led by Det Supt Tony Garner.
Following the verdict today, he said: “Jamie Harrison chose to act for himself.
“He took advantage of the position as treasurer and secretary within the Police Federation to use member’s funds for his own gain.
“This was a betrayal of the trust placed in him by both the public and his colleagues.
“His actions amounted to criminal behaviour and an investigation was carried out, without fear or favour, as the public would rightly expect.”
Victoria Norman from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “As a police officer and federation treasurer, Jamie Harrison was in a position of considerable trust and was expected to act with honesty and integrity.
“Instead, he exploited his control over WMPF’s finances for personal gain and behaved in a thoroughly dishonest way during the entire eight years of his tenure.
“Harrison displayed an extremely cavalier attitude to being caught, dipping into petty cash at will, claiming expenses far beyond what was reasonable and falsifying timesheets.
“His entitled and dishonest behaviour ran counter to everything he should have stood for as a public servant and was a total betrayal of the colleagues whose subscriptions funded the Police Federation, who trusted their money would be used appropriately.
“The Crown Prosecution Service is determined to bring to justice those public servants who commit fraud and abuse positions of trust.”
Sentencing will take place at Worcester Crown Court on March 25.
