A detective trusted to work from home duped his bosses into thinking he was tirelessly busy – by jamming a single key on his computer.
Detective Constable Niall Thubron, 33, repeatedly held down one character on his keyboard to create the illusion he was typing continuously during his two days working from home each week.
On one occasion in December 2024, his computer was logged as having pressed the ‘i’ key more than 16,000 times within 90 minutes, a misconduct hearing in Peterlee, County Durham, heard today.
The disgraced officer managed to avoid carrying out his policing tasks while clocking up 45 hours of bogus work pretending to be busy on ‘complex investigations’.
He had wanted to make sure his computer was not dormant for long periods, which would have been flagged to superiors at Durham Police.
Thubron pulled the stunt 38 times across just 12 days, just weeks after he had secured a coveted role with the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit [NEROCU].
He would have been sacked for gross misconduct had he not already resigned from Durham Police in May, the disciplinary hearing concluded.
The hearing was told that his key-jamming trick ‘ensured that valuable policing work was not being completed’ and meant that he was able to ‘receive a wage despite not completing those duties and leaving policing tasks incomplete.’
Thubron resigned from Durham Police in May. The panel ruled he would have been sacked for gross misconduct had he not done so.
DC Thubron was a talented footballer who previously turned out for the England Police team
Describing Thubron’s actions, Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary Rachel Bacon said: ‘This former officer was working on investigations into organised crime yet on 12 days between December 3 and January 12, the officer was using key-jamming for 45 hours out of the total of 85 hours he was logged in.
‘He was frequently away from the keyboard for half his day. The public would be rightly appalled by this conduct.’
Thubron, once hailed as a talented footballer who played for the England Police team, joined Durham Police in 2016 as a PCSO before rising through the ranks to become a detective in 2024.
In November that year, he was handed a prestigious role tackling serious organised crime – and trusted to work from home two days a week.
Suspicions were raised the following month when monitoring software flagged ‘suspicious activity’, triggering an internal anti-corruption probe.
Data from Thurbron’s laptop revealed ‘lengthy periods where the only activity was a single keystroke’.
DCI Yvonne Dutson, head of Durham Police’s professional standards unit said: ‘You engaged in a process called key-jamming whereby you selected a character form from your keyboard which you fixed to type continuously for long periods of times.
‘The purpose of your actions was to give the impression you were completing tasks with the NEROCU while working from home.’
Chief Constable of Durham Rachel Bacon said: ‘The public would be rightly appalled by this conduct.’
She added: ‘On each of the occasions between December 3 and January 12, 2025, the officer was working from home.
‘To utilise key-jamming misrepresents that the officer is completing his policing duties, enabling him to receive a wage despite not completing those duties and leaving policing tasks incomplete.
‘Misrepresenting that he was completing work when he was not is conduct that is invariably dishonest.’
Thubron did not attend the misconduct hearing but his former line manager, Det Sgt Stephen Gillibrand told the panel that the officer’s deception left him ‘let down’ and ’embarrassed’.
He said Thubron had ‘clearly employed tactics to deceive me’ after being given permission to work from home.
Thuborn was found guilty of gross misconduct after breaching standards on honesty and integrity, discreditable conduct and professional responsibilities.
Chief Constable Bacon said Thubron’s misconduct was ‘regular, repeated and committed over a sustained period of time’.
She said: ‘This was a deliberate act and a deliberate breach of standards.
‘The former officer knew avoiding work was wrong.
‘The public expects police officers to work diligently on their behalf. That’s a trust that’s painstaking built by colleagues working hard.’
Describing Thubron’s conduct as a ‘clear case of gross misconduct’, the Chief Constable added: ‘Police officers are trusted to work from home sometimes.
‘To the very few who might look to take advantage of that, this case will be a stark warning that they will be caught and their conduct could be career-ending.’
Thubron was added to the College of Policing’s barred list. He has the right to appeal.
