Ex-police officer who ditched evidence after fatal crash 'would have been sacked'

A former police officer who lied to his colleagues and destroyed evidence following a fatal crash would have been sacked had he not already resigned. Ex-special constable Jack Jones had been at the scene of a crash, which led to the death of his friend Finnley Jones. But he frustrated a police investigation into the crash in Llandudno and got rid of his car's dashcam SD card.

Later he resigned from North Wales Police with criminal proceedings pending against him. A police misconduct hearing was held in April 2023 in private to avoid undermining those criminal proceedings. Last week, Jack Jones was given an eight-month jail term suspended for a year for trying to pervert the course of justice.



Now the proceedings are over, the force has published the outcome of its own hearing. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here The force found that on Monday, October 24, 2022 at about 8.30pm Finnley Jones, former officer Jack Jones and Emily Birtles left Llandudno's JD Sports store where they work.

They got into their respective vehicles and travelled out of Llandudno past The Links pub. The vehicles headed out towards the A470 and manoeuvred around the roundabout by The Links public house where the road then becomes a dual carriageway. Shortly after entering the dual carriageway, Finnley Jones’ vehicle collided with a stone wall, sadly resulting in his tragic death a week later, the hearing found.

The force found: "The first vehicle to stop after the collision was a vehicle being driven by former officer Jones, shortly followed by the emergency services. In summary a signed statement was recorded from former officer Jones on the night by PC 2707 Martin Done from North Wales Police's Roads Policing Unit. "Within the statement former officer Jones gives a summary of the incident but importantly for this hearing states that the dashcam in his car had not been installed and there was no SD card.

" PC Mark Walker from North Wales Police's Roads Policing Unit had his "suspicions raised" when he saw that there was a dashcam in the vehicle. Police Sergeant Jason Diamond, of the roads policing unit, cautioned Jones by the roadside. The hearing found: "Following the death of Finnley, former officer Jones was arrested and during interview made admissions that clearly contradict the statement he provided to police officers at the time.

Former officer Jones states that he did remove the SD card from his dashcam and chose to destroy the evidence." Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, of North Wales Police, conducted the "accelerated misconduct hearing" in respect of the former special constable, relating to allegations around "honesty and integrity", and "discreditable conduct". She noted Jones did not formally respond to any documentation within the hearing but has resigned.

In the hearing report she wrote: "The former officer had the opportunity to inform the roads policing officers at the time of the incident, but he chose not to. "At some point during the incident former officer Jones decided to remove the SD card. Furthermore, having had time to think about his actions he deliberately destroyed the SD card at a later stage.

"Former officer Jones could have reflected and provided the evidence to the police officers to assist them in piecing together Finnley’s last movements, but his focus was selfishly on his own position." He caused "significant harm" to the reputation of North Wales Police, the chief constable said, adding: "He has bought discreditable conduct to North Wales Police and thought only of himself when Finnley was in a critical condition." She added: "I determine that this amounts to gross misconduct.

" She said that had he been serving he would therefore have been dismissed without notice. Ms Blakeman said there is a public interest in misconduct hearings being "transparent" but it was "critically important" that this one was not held in public so as not to undermine the trial. Jack Jones, 21, of Min y Don Avenue, Old Colwyn, who’d only just turned 19 at the time of the tragedy in October 2022 , admitted trying to pervert justice by destroying the recording and lying to police at the scene.

He received an eight month jail term, suspended for a year, and a nine-month overnight curfew. Find crime figures for your area.