West Midlands Police face criticism after using entertainment company for tribunal tickets

A former police constable has hit out at the force for using an entertainments company to distribute tickets for his employment tribunal.

Kirk Van Niekerk, who worked for West Midlands Police, was found guilty of gross misconduct last month. A colleague smelled cannabis coming from his car in November, when he was conducting a missing persons search at 3am in a marked police car. This eventually led to a misconduct hearing on the grounds of smoking cannabis on duty.

Van Niekerk was not present when he was found guilty, but voiced his dismay at the use of Eventsbrite, the entertainment company that allocated seats. When people booked tickets, this message came up: “We hope you enjoy West Midlands Misconduct hearing – PC Van Niekerk, Cheers.”

Van Niekerk said: “They are making all these cuts and they are hiring a company to supply tickets with my name on them. They hide the names of murderers ... but they name me for something that isn't criminal.”