A FORMER Gwent Police officer has been cleared of falling below appropriate standards of professional behaviour during sick leave for back pain, when he was seen driving long distances, and carrying a large suitcase at an airport whilst going on holiday.

James Vaughan, a police constable until he resigned last autumn for reasons unrelated to the case, was on sick leave for more than three months from June 16 2017 with neck, shoulder and back pain, almost a year after suffering whiplash in an on-duty incident.

He was accused of carrying out activities inconsistent with the pain he claimed to be suffering, during that sick leave.

But a three-strong panel hearing a misconduct case brought by Gwent Police, concluded that no element of those activities was inconsistent with reasons for absence declared by the then PC Vaughan in his sickness form.

He suffered seemingly minor whiplash in July 2016, when his parked police car was hit by a reversing taxi in Newport, causing “slight” injuries, with “soreness to neck/shoulders and back”.

From then until January 2017 he suffered pain, muscle spasms, difficulty sleeping, and difficulty wearing a stab vest, and had repeated GP and physiotherapy consultations.

After easing off, the pain returned "with a vengeance" in May 2017, leading to his being signed off a month later.

Gwent Police claimed that Facebook photographs from the period of sick leave showed him taking part in activities inconsistent with the reason for his absence from work, and that there were "numerous pictures" of him driving in July-August 2017 in which considerable distances were travelled.

On September 12 he drove to Bristol airport and could be seen carrying a large case, while showing no signs of distress or injury, and on September 29 he was seen carrying a large holdall to playing fields, showing a football team how to warm up, jumping in the air, and running and jogging.

The panel noted the evidence gathered by the force, but stated that such of it that was gathered outside of the sick leave period - Mr Vaughan returned to police work on September 24 2017 - would not assist it.

Orthopaedic surgeon and whiplash expert Mr Ronald Mifsud had told the hearing that symptoms experienced by Mr Vaughan "continued beyond what I would expect", in the case of a young, strong police officer involved in a low velocity whiplash incident, and in such a case he would request an MRI scan and a psychological assessment to try to get to the bottom of the problem.

He said a scan would be much better at detecting a problem in a whiplash case, as it is a soft tissue injury, while the assessment might shed light on psychological issues that can "magnify" pain in a patient.

The hearing was told a scan and an assessment were not carried out in Mr Vaughan's case.

The panel recognised that Mr Vaughan was assessed twice in August 2017 and, while advised to increase physical activities as being beneficial for his symptoms, and to push himself through the pain barrier, the advice - consistent with a report by his physiotherapist - was that he should not at that stage report back to work for light duties.

He told the hearing he wanted to return to work, and would have done so earlier than September 24 2017, but was advised by his physiotherapist to go on a family holiday beforehand.

The panel concluded that Mr Vaughan's evidence was "reliable and measured", and he had wished to return to work at the first opportunity, consistent with the medical advice.

It also concluded that he had been in pain, and that his absence from work was "genuine", and found the force's case against him not proved.