A Norfolk special constable has been dismissed after being given a suspended jail sentence for making false claims about being the driver in a car crash.

Following a trial at Ipswich Crown Court, Piers Wilton, who at the time was a serving officer with Norfolk Special Constabulary, was convicted of perverting the course of justice.

The charge related to a collision involving a BMW which happened on Blickling Road at Oulton, near Aylsham, in September 2019.

Police attended the scene of the accident but found the car abandoned. It was later established that at the time of the crash Wilton had been driving the car, which belonged to his friend.

However, he had failed to tell police about this when officers visited the rightful owner who initially reported the car stolen.

Wilton was present when officers visited the owner and failed to mention the theft was untrue and that he had in fact been driving.

In the days afterwards, Wilton admitted to police that the car hadn’t been stolen and that he was driving at the time of the crash.

Though he was a serving special officer at the time the offence was committed, he had been off-duty.

He was sentenced in November and given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service and pay court costs of £1,500.

Following his conviction he was subject to a fast-tracked misconduct hearing conducted by Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford.

His conduct was found to have breached the “expected standards of professional behaviour in the area of discreditable conduct and honesty and integrity”.

Wilton had resigned prior to the hearing, which found that had he still been a serving special constable he would have been dismissed.

He now has a right of appeal to a police appeals tribunal.

Special constables, also known as 'specials', hold the same powers as police officers and work a minimum of 16 hours a month as volunteers.

They deal with a wide range of incidents including road accidents, public order, missing persons and policing large scale public events and include officers with specialist skills in areas like rural policing and drone operators.