Qld: Police officer suspended on full pay

AAP General News (Australia)
12-20-2005
Qld: Police officer suspended on full pay

BRISBANE, Dec 20 AAP - A north Queensland police officer who crashed a paddy wagon
while drunk will remain on fully paid sick until investigations are completed.

Constable Craig Andrew Sinclair, 41, was fined $1,000 and his licence was suspended
for 10 months when he pleaded guilty in the Bowen Magistrates Court on Friday, the day
after crashing the vehicle.

Sinclair's case was supposed to have been heard on January 6 and the police prosecutor
had opposed the early hearing on the grounds investigations into other possible offences
were still under way.

The court was told the officer had been driving the paddy wagon home from a work Christmas
party early last Thursday when the vehicle ran off the road and into a fence on a vacant
lot.

He was not injured but was later found to be driving with a blood alcohol level of
.163 - more than three times the legal limit.

Police said today the officer was on sick leave and any further disciplinary action
would depend on the outcome of the investigation.

Police Minister Judy Spence last week condemned the officer's behaviour as sending
an "appalling message" to the community.

The Queensland Police Service's Ethical Standards Command is still investigating the
case and moves were under way to have Const Sinclair transferred away from Bowen.

AAP rad/sc/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: POLICEMAN

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