A police officer who passed off his partner’s university work as his own and applied for a bank loan in her name without consent has been dismissed without notice.
PC Benvenuto Picone submitted assignments and a dissertation completed or significantly contributed to by “Person A” while studying at Liverpool John Moores University.
The Merseyside Police officer presented the work as his own and was subsequently awarded a degree.
A misconduct panel heard that Picone joined the force in March 2021 and undertook a programme of university study as part of his police training.
Between April 2022 and November 2023, Person A completed or provided a significant contribution to many of his assignments and completed his dissertation.
WhatsApp messages showed the pair discussing deadlines, grades and work that had to be submitted.
In one exchange, Person A told him: “I’m doing a uni assignment” and later said she had completed it but was 200 words over the limit.
After receiving his grade, Picone replied: “Girl, you’re purposely getting me shit marks.”
In November 2023, Person A referred to the hours she had spent on his dissertation and told him she had checked its formatting, tables and figures.
Picone responded: “Na its boss nice one.”
The panel also found that, in October 2022, Picone applied to Santander for a loan in Person A’s name without her consent.
The application was refused on October 21, 2022, prompting Person A to challenge him after saying failed applications were damaging her credit history.
Picone replied that he had tried to make a joint application but “it just wasn’t happening”, adding: “So I just went with yours.”
He admitted the loan allegation and accepted that Person A had completed or significantly contributed to many assignments and had completed his dissertation.
The panel found the allegations proven and determined that Picone had breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour relating to Honesty and Integrity and Discreditable Conduct.
It found his actions amounted to gross misconduct.
In its written determination, the panel said Picone’s conduct had been “intentional, deliberate and planned” and involved repeated acts of dishonesty for personal advantage.
Although no evidence of actual harm to an individual or group was presented, the panel found that his conduct had significant potential to undermine public confidence in policing.
The panel concluded that a final written warning would not adequately maintain public confidence or uphold professional standards.
It said Picone’s conduct was “wholly incompatible” with his continued service as a Merseyside Police officer.
He was dismissed without notice and the panel directed that he should be added to the police barred list.
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