MPS officer jailed

A Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer has been dismissed and jailed for 12 months for fraud.

Andrew Bramwell, formerly a detective sergeant, was part of a team of officers sent to Leeds to investigate the 7/7 bombings in London.

Following an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation, it has been concluded that Bramwell attempted to falsely claim he had used MPS money to pay thousands of pounds in rent, despite the fact that the bill had already been settled.

The group of officers stayed in accommodation that was to be paid for using American Express cards they had been given to cover living expenses.

The group who managed the accommodation however, did not accept American Express cards so officers had to withdraw the cash from an American Express branch in York to pay rent.

Bramwell took on responsibility for paying his rent and that of some of his colleagues by withdrawing large amounts of cash at the same time.

In October 2006 however, Bramwell began paying the rent using his personal Visa card and using money withdrawn from the American Express accounts to pay his Visa bill. This was an unauthorised step.

Bramwell paid the last bill, £11,540.25, using his Visa card on May 11. He had withdrawn the same amount in cash in two transactions on April 30 and May 7. He had no outstanding bills.

He continued to use his American Express card to withdraw £9,774 on May 23 and £1,975.35 on May 31, which also incurred charges of £171.05 and £34.57 respectively.

The IPCC investigation report said: “In October 2007, having been asked to reconcile over £140,000 worth of expenditure, Bramwell supplied documentation to support his Amex payments. These included invoices relating to the money that he withdrew on 23 and 31 May, but no receipts to show the rent had been paid.  According to the records of The Chambers, these invoices were, in fact, paid on 19 June 2007 in cash by a detective inspector.”

Bramwell was dismissed from the MPS on January 6.