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Policeman Claimed to Be Ill. He Was Found Cycling on Mallorca Instead

By Monica Buck

His back problem was supposed to be so bad he couldn‘t even come to work on October 13, 2017. However, Nicholas Corbett was in fact enjoying a cycling holiday on Mallorca that day. Which must have come as a surprise to his inspector because Corbett claimed the back problem was connected to a road traffic collision all the way back in 2014. A collision which supposedly left him unable to ride a bike and unable to board a flight which was longer than 90 minutes.

Corbett, who worked for Thames Valley Police, even managed to finish 24th in the E/1/2/3 Spirit Tifosi Autumn Road Race a few days earlier before moving on to Mallorca. He deleted his Strava account after returning from his holiday but it was too late. His activities were already discovered by his superiors who brought up charges of gross misconduct. The culprit didn‘t stick around for the hearing and quickly resigned.

“I am sure most of Thames Valley Police would agree that there is no room in this organisation for somebody who behaves as this former officer has,” Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Ward, head of the Professional Standards Department, said. “Thankfully the vast majority of our staff are hard-working and dedicated. Where we become aware of someone behaving in this way we will be relentless in carrying out a thorough investigation.”