British policeman faces misconduct hearing for trying to steal doughnuts

The officer is accused of trying to buy a $19 box of donuts for less than 20c. Photo / Supplied

A police officer in the UK could lose his job after he was accused of using a barcode scam to buy a $19 box of doughnuts for less than 20c.

PC Simon Read, from Cambridgeshire Police, is alleged to have used the trick to get the doughnuts for a rock-bottom price at a supermarket in February.

The Daily Mail quoted a letter written to Read by Cambridgeshire Police ahead of the misconduct hearing that could result in his dismissal.

"You selected a cardboard tray containing 12 Krispy Kreme donuts that were priced at £9.95," the letter read.

"The donut tray had a price barcode on it. You then went to the fruit and vegetable area where you used the self-service scales to obtain a self-adhesive barcode price label for carrots with a price of £0.07 [7 pence]."

"At the self-service checkout counter, you intentionally scanned the barcode for the carrots instead of the bar code for the donuts with the result that you were charged £0.07 for the donuts rather than £9.95," police claimed.

Police said the breach of professionals standards was "so serious that dismissal would be justified".

His superiors stated that the alleged behaviour "brings discredit upon the police service and undermines confidence in it because a reasonable member of the public, aware of all the facts, would be justifiably appalled that a police officer had acted dishonestly and without integrity".

Police officers' love of doughnuts has been the subject of many jokes and caricatures, and police have often been in on the jokes.

Photos police officers in Kentucky, US, took of themselves mourning the loss of a truckload of Krispy Kreme doughnuts went viral on social media early last year.

The photos were taken where a truck full of doughnuts caught fire on New Year's Eve 2018, then shared to Twitter, playing on the stereotype of the doughnut-loving cop.

No words. 😭 pic.twitter.com/eRzvxztVlG

— Lexington Police (@lexkypolice) December 31, 2018

"No words," the caption read, with a crying emoji.

Police officers all over the world responded with sympathy for the Kentucky cops' loss.

All the feels 😭 pic.twitter.com/e6fVII1zm0

— Pittsburg Police, CA (@PittsburgPD) January 1, 2019

pic.twitter.com/TWESroix3v

— Southport Police (@SouthportPD) December 31, 2018