'Stupid thing' | Police worker 'key-jammed' laptop with nail varnish bottle to avoid 'going off green'

A former police constable used a nail varnish bottle to keep keys pressed on her laptop - preventing it from locking while she revised for a sergeant’s exam and carried out other work.

Detective Constable Katy Sergeant, of Norfolk Constabulary, was ruled to have committed misconduct through “key jamming” tactics on three dates between March and June 2025 including by placing a nail varnish bottle on the keys, so the device would remain active rather than time out and lock.

The report said the former officer accepted the core allegation that “On three dates between March and June 2025 you deployed ‘key jamming’ tactics, i.e. causing a computer keyboard to register being pressed continuously or repetitively for extended periods of time to prevent the computer from timing out and the screen locking, on your Norfolk Constabulary issued laptop.” 

It also found that on 10 March 2025 she used key-jamming for up to 14 periods, on 11 March for up to 12 periods, and on 23 June for up to 14 periods.