AN Avon and Somerset Police detective who faked working from home by weighing down keys on her laptop keyboard for more than 46 hours over 15 shifts has been sacked without notice.

Det Con Philippa Baskwill was also barred from the police or law enforcement agencies after she was found to have committed gross misconduct at a tribunal chaired by Chief Constable Sarah Crew on Thursday, April 10.

The officer was assigned to Operation Ruby, which investigates the most predatory paedophiles, but instead spent eight hours and 45 minutes of three of her home-working shifts shopping online and searching for flights, on top of the hours where the keys were weighted down.

Det Con Baskwill, who did not attend the hearing, accepted breaching the standards of professional behaviour and misconduct but denied her actions were deliberately dishonest or amounted to gross misconduct.

She admitted in her response to the internal investigation that she would balance her mobile phone on the keys to prevent the computer going into standby mode.

The Bridgwater-based detective said that this was so she could still get notifications while carrying out brief household chores and not to create a misleading impression that she was working, but Chief Constable Crew rejected this explanation because the conduct was “persistent and prolonged”.

Barrister George Thomas KC, representing the force, said the events took place between March 8, 2023, and August 10, 2024.

He said: “The keystroke data records that for significant periods of time a single key was registering repetitive entries indicating it was pressed down continuously.”

Mr Thomas told the misconduct hearing that the information from the officer’s laptop and that of two colleagues showed the keystrokes in May, June and July 2024 varied between 80,000 and 200,000 per month but that Det Con Baskwill’s keystrokes for August rocketed to 2.8 million – at least 14 times what it had been.

He said her total keystrokes for 2022 were just over two million but in 2023 they shot up to 21 million.

Mr Thomas said the longest amount of time in one day the keys were weighed down totalled more than six hours.

“It’s clear from that pattern that there were very significant periods of time when the key was weighted down,” he said.

“If a key is weighted down, the computer cannot otherwise be operated, so an officer cannot navigate through documents.”

Mr Thomas said the officer’s browsing history on her police-issue laptop showed she was shopping online on three dates in November 2023 when she was supposed to be working.

In her response to investigators, which the barrister read out, Det Con Baskwill said: “I do not believe I’ve been deliberately dishonest in my actions but can see why someone else has reached this conclusion.”

She said she placed her mobile on the keyboard so she could still get alerts while doing jobs like making food or putting the washing on.

The officer said: “This was done absent-mindedly for practical reasons while dealing with a busy family life.

“I recognise now this was a bad idea.

“This was not an attempt to make myself look active, just a way of monitoring what would have come into my in-tray.

“I can’t stress enough how much of a wake-up call this has been.

“Looking back I recognise there have been moments where I made poor and flippant decisions.”

But Mr Thomas said: “The hours amount to significant shifts-worth when work was not done.

“There is nothing absent-minded about deliberately placing a weight on a keyboard, rendering it unusable.

“There was at least an element of subterfuge connected with the extended periods of non-working and accepting payment for time on duty.

“We have a clear pattern of Det Con Baskwill entirely disregarding the expectation to undertake worthwhile duties while at work.

“This was an abuse of trust placed in an officer working remotely.

“Had this conduct not been detected by the audit of the keystroke data, there is no evidence on which you could find that the officer would have mended her ways.

“She appears to have become accustomed to doing little or no work when working from home.

“It appears to have been treated as an opportunity to work part time, if at all, during many of those shifts.”

Chief Constable Crew ruled that the detective’s actions were dishonest and would undermine public confidence in the police.

She found gross misconduct proved.

Supt Larisa Hunt, head of the professional standards department at Avon and Somerset Police, said afterwards: “We know officers and staff are dealing with immense pressure and high workloads so it’s extremely disappointing for an officer to act in this deliberate and deceitful way.

“She’s let down the public primarily, but also her colleagues too.

“We regularly remind line managers of their responsibilities to hold regular check-ins, one-to-ones, and reviews to consistently monitor the wellbeing and capacity of their staff.

“This will also ensure any further instances like this are swiftly identified and dealt with.”

Det Con Baskwill was represented by a Police Federation rep but instructed them not to make any submissions.

Colleagues said in character references that she was compassionate, empathetic and a valued member of the team.