A former Island police officer has appeared in court accused of misconduct in a public office, theft and of intending to pervert the course of justice.
Jason Bolwell, 40, from Ryde
Jason Bolwell, 40, Amhurst Place, Ryde, faces five charges at Guildford Crown Court, and the trial is expected to last another two weeks.
It is alleged the former acting inspector took a cooker and some slates while working to restore a luxury mill house for Dr Tacis Gavoyannis. It is further claimed he later sold them for £1,200, while accepting £1,500 pounds-a-month to manage tradesmen working on the project in Brighstone, in breach of police regulations.
Prosecutor Ben Dall opened the case by declaring said: “Count one alleges misconduct in a public office and arises from the fact that he was working as a project manager on a building development at the same time as being employed as a police officer.
“If that was not enough he was actually attending the site in uniform. To add insult to injury he was actually stealing from his employer at the site by selling items on, namely some roofing slates and an Aga oven and keeping the cash.”
Dr Gavoyannis, who had planned to turn the mill house into a guest house, later sacked the defendant after it was discovered he went on holiday, leaving his wife to manage the project.
Mr Dall continued: “In December 2006 when Mr Bolwell was sacked, he removed a whole collection of items from the property which belonged to his employer and other workmen. It was a series of dishonest and rather discreditable actions by a serving police officer.”
Bolwell is accused of misconduct in a public office between September 23 2006 and December 31 2006 and not informing his employers, the Hampshire Police.
He is further accused of two counts of theft relating to an Aga oven and tools including lawn mowers and strimmers which were allegedly stolen from Dr Gavoyannis between November and December 2006. A further count of theft relates to roofing slates allegedly stolen in November 2006.
Bolwell faces a further charge of intending to pervert the course of justice between November 8 2006 and January 7 2007 relating to injuries sustained by a visitor to the building site. The trial continues.
