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A student police officer signed off sick and deemed unfit for duty was found to be working at a post office.

Former PC Cullen Gough-Nicholls would have been dismissed from the force had he not already resigned, after a panel concluded he breached professional standards by working while on sick leave and misleading the force about his ability to work.

The misconduct hearing, held on Monday March 9, looked at three allegations against the former officer, who did not attend the proceedings.

It was alleged that on five dates last September, Gough-Nicholls “undertook activities consistent with work at a post office” while on sick leave.

The second allegation against him focused on the three occasions in 2025 where he gave false or misleading statements to the police around his ability to work, and about his involvement with the post office.

The former PC is also alleged to have failed to declare the post office as a business interest.

Assistant Chief Constable Nick McLain, who chaired the misconduct hearing panel, ruled that all the allegations were proven – and that Gough-Nicholls breached the force’s standards of ‘honesty and integrity’, ‘duties and responsibilities’ and ‘discreditable conduct’.

ACC McLain said: “Our communities rightfully expect the police to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and not conduct themselves in a way which will cause public trust and confidence in the service to be undermined.

“The behaviour shown by this former officer illustrates a complete lack of professionalism but, more alarmingly, it was highly deceptive by taking on work when he suggested he was unfit to carry out any form of policing duty.”

He continued: “The vast majority of our officers, staff, and volunteers work tirelessly to keep Gwent safe; they are dedicated to their public duties when they come into work and show the utmost respect to our communities. 

“Although this now former officer resigned during the investigation, it was correct for us to continue with the proceedings and take the action that we have.”

Gough-Nicholls will now be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.