Sacked for Serving Pints, Banned for Reffing Games: The Absurd Reality of Being a Broke Police Officer

While some criminals walk free, a young constable's career was destroyed for the "heinous crime" of trying to pay his bills.

It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the press release Avon and Somerset Police put out this week. A student officer, PC Louis Cosway, has been kicked out of the job and banned from policing for life. His crime? Trying to earn some extra money refereeing football games and pulling pints at a bar.

This might be presented solely as a matter of integrity or professional standards, but the reality is this was about a young officer trying to stay afloat. PC Cosway wasn’t gaming the system. He was grappling with it. Like so many public servants, he was fresh into the job and facing a brutal economic reality. Energy bills are suffocating, rent is extortionate, and food prices are completely out of hand. To many people, this wasn’t greed. It was survival.

According to the force, Cosway was suspended over unrelated matters in November 2023.

That suspension was lifted in April. Somewhere in the middle of that limbo, he tried to get permission to work as a referee. That was denied. He went on long-term sick leave. Then, what did he do? He refereed a few football games and worked some bar shifts. Cash in hand, small money. Nothing scandalous. Nothing harmful. No victims.