Latest news with #deceit
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
18 Devastating "Truth Bombs" That Completely Destroyed Relationships Forever
We previously covered this Reddit thread where people shared *the* secret they uncovered that made them leave their ex for good. Then, BuzzFeed Community members shared their own stories of partner deceit and betrayal. Here's what they revealed: Warning: This post mentions sexual assault. 1."He was definitely not the person I thought I had married. For starters, he cleaned out my bank account and charged more than $30,000 to my credit card. He pawned my jewelry, which I had received from my father for graduation. He made a continuous practice of gaslighting me, making me doubt my sanity, and he cheated on me with some guy. Only after I finally kicked him to the curb have I learned how much more he kept from me, like getting fired for sexual harassment." —Anonymous 2."My husband was a top city official. I realized he was having an affair with a married woman at the office. He couldn't stop talking about her. I found out they even had a wedding ceremony without papers. He took the whole family to Hawaii and then would leave the hotel room for sightseeing before we got up in the morning. I told him on the way home that it didn't even seem like we had a vacation together. I later realized that they were meeting up. I found a note he had written to himself that said he was secretly hoping to be caught. She can have him. Happily divorced." —Anonymous 3."I found out four days before my birthday that my husband of 23 years had been having a nine-year affair with his high school sweetheart and that my brother-in-law had gotten her email for him so that they could connect. Turned out that he had made numerous trips to visit her under the guise of business trips and high school reunions. I found out by picking up his phone because he was outside and expecting a call from his doctor, only to see it was a very personal text from a woman. I then learned that his visit two months prior to help his brother on a building project for two weeks was actually another of his lies. He had flown her cross-country to stay with him at his brother's, and the three of them had a great time seeing the sights and going to restaurants with his brother's friends." "He got so tangled up in his lies that he was lying about his lies. I haven't spent one day missing him. I learned that she dumped him when she realized what type of man he is." —Anonymous 4."My ex-husband would say he was going to his second job, which he had taken, to support our newborn son. He was, in fact, going to sleep with a 19-year-old girl from his main job at the hospital. I discovered a box of condoms in his backpack that certainly weren't for me, accompanied by texts from her. He bought her the morning-after pill, so I guess they also skipped the condoms sometimes. I took my kid and left." —Anonymous 5."He had dating apps that he was actively using to cheat on me while my sister was dying from cancer. I found out the week of the funeral." —Anonymous 6."We lived about an hour and a half from each other and saw each other once a month, but texted every day at first when we renewed our relationship. I had my rings, and we were talking marriage. Eventually, I noticed a pattern that he was never available after 6:00 p.m. or on weekends, so I would send texts and they would go unanswered. When I brought this up, he would say he's at work (nights), yet I never saw proof. He never gave me money for bills, yet knew I was working two jobs to keep a roof over my head, nor did he appreciate how hard I worked. He asked me to move to where he is, and something told me not to." "Aside from his lying about working, I took a peek at his social media, where I discovered he was engaged to a woman out of state who, by the looks of it, had a drug problem. I realized I deserved better, sent my rings back, and started putting my life back together. As for him, they broke up, and he started dating a married woman who used him to get back at her husband, who cheated on her with someone else, resulting in a baby. Karma came for him when his married woman left him and went back to her husband before she set him up to be a homicide victim. He survived, yet still won't admit he fucked up with me." —Anonymous 7."Three days before Valentine's Day, I found out about over a decade of cheating. After 11 years together, seven years married, I found out from an anonymous text that he had been unfaithful for at least four years. She apologized for being a bad friend. After calling the number, it turns out the text was from our previously married neighbor, who had us over for dinner a few times and invited us to their weeknight church groups a few times. After looking for the proof first (she said she would send it to me but didn't) in his iPad and old phones, I saw messages, naked pictures, and videos from several women spanning the entire relationship. Several of these women were previous friends of his, who were 'like family,' and were at our wedding. Some even used to be friendly with me at friends' events." "After a few years, he wasn't the best husband in terms of how he treated me, but I never had a clue because he was always on time and never did anything to cause suspicion. He was cheating at work, on lunch breaks. He was calling women for quickies before going into the office, visiting strip clubs on lunch breaks, meeting up with women while out walking our dog late at night, while I put the children to bed, and texting them when I was in the shower or after I'd gone to bed. We have three children, ages six and younger, with one on the way (found out right after the scandal). I canceled going to our marriage counseling meetings (where he only wanted me to take responsibility for the marriage and his treatment towards me) and filed for divorce anyway." —Anonymous 8."The guy I had been long-distance dating for almost five years had gotten someone else pregnant and married her. The kicker was that she's the one who emailed me from his email account to tell me. Still haven't spoken to him about it to this day. They have three kids now, and I have a 3.5 carat diamond ring from a super awesome man!" —Anonymous 9."My wife of 20 years went to a Friendsgiving the day before Thanksgiving Day. She never came home. She called me at noon on Thanksgiving Day to tell me she was on her way home and that she had passed out at her friend's house. I was suspicious. A month later, I woke up in the morning to go to work and found her phone in her purse still on. Before the battery died, I was able to go through it and discovered she left the Friendsgiving that night to hook up with a random dude she just met. I had to endure reading the text messages of my wife, with whom I share two children, communicating with her friend about the man's penis size and color. All while her husband and children were asleep at home. I left her that very same day. All she could say was sorry." —Anonymous 10."My ex-husband spent the last two years of our 10-year marriage actively sleeping with one of my very best friends. She came clean when she realized that he had manipulated and gaslit both of us into believing his BS excuses. He told her I had firmly stated I wanted zero information regarding their situationship. Meanwhile, he had me convinced that he was not attracted to her in any way because he viewed her as a sibling, and it disgusted him to even think about having relations with her. I left in 2020 and never looked back. Divorce was worth every penny." —Anonymous 11."My ex lied about everything. He invented an entire false backstory of hardship and tragedy, like almost making the NHL before a knee injury ruined his dreams, rehabbing that injury enough to sign a contract as a professional mountain bike racer, and then in the very next race, crashing and shattering a vertebrae and ruining his ability to play any sports again. He has stories about traveling around South America and being arrested and extorted by police, about a job he worked on production for a Spice Girls tour in Europe, and where Geri Halliwell kissed him at the tour wrap-up party, about his time in the Coast Guard, and various heroic rescues he had pulled off. The most egregious lie was that he had survived bowel cancer. I'm a nurse, and everything he told me about his recovery, treatments, and medications was exact. He had literally studied cancer treatments and memorized the names of chemo meds." "We had a baby together, and he was horrible to me in my pregnancy and postpartum. He body-shamed me, degraded and humiliated me in front of strangers under the guise of 'joking,' and even poured out my pumped breast milk and screamed at me when I would breastfeed so that my son had to be formula fed. He was away at sea in the Coast Guard when our child was 4 months old. He had borrowed my laptop to work on a course and left it signed in and synced with his phone. I could see in real-time as he and a woman exchanged nudes. I found out he had cheated on me during my pregnancy with 10-15 women. I had suspected it because he was averse to any intimacy at all during my entire pregnancy, but there was now plenty of evidence. I called his sister and started telling her about things, and she confirmed that his backstory was lies he'd told many people, and they had a very privileged childhood. He had constantly been on social media talking to other women, but he would say that it was a friend's girlfriend, cousin, or coworker. But it turned out that they were all women he had slept with or was cheating on me with. He was telling these women all sorts of lies about me to make me seem like a monster, but they all knew about me, the pregnancy, and the baby. That one really hurt. When I contacted the women, they seemed mostly mad about the *other* women he was involved with. They all thought they were something special to him. He came home from the sea, and for two weeks, I tried to figure out how to move forward. He ended up sexually assaulting me (it took me a long time to figure it out because I had wanted intimacy from him for my whole pregnancy, and now that I didn't want it, he forced it, and tried to convince me that I actually wanted it, and I was in the depths of postpartum depression hell). He finally told me he would not stop having other women in his life. I kicked him out, and he called child services and made up a bunch of lies about me, spread rumors about me around my workplace to try to ruin my career, and canceled about 50% of his parenting time to go get drunk and sleep with strangers during the pandemic. I've spent about $70k on legal bills and following court orders to try and get some semblance of peace in my life. He is now married to one of the women he cheated on me with, and the week before they announced their engagement, he came to me and said he just wanted to be a family again and asked me to give him a chance, so I doubt she's being treated any better than I was. I now have to try to co-parent with them, and I have a diagnosis of PTSD from the sexual assault and everything he did to us. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I try to put it all aside for my son's sake, but I also want to protect him from how my ex will eventually use, abuse, and discard him, just like he's done with everyone in his life. They didn't even invite him to their wedding, and it seems they basically trot my son out for photo opportunities or to try and hurt me." —Anonymous 12."One month after we got married, I found cards from the woman he had been cheating with for the entire three years we had dated before marriage." —Anonymous 13."He was having an affair with our son's girlfriend (the mother of our grandchildren)." —Anonymous 14."Got engaged and moved 1,900 miles away to be closer to her parents. For some reason, she was always combative. I was working three jobs to support us and her kid. In February, she went back to visit her friends. A few months later, I found a note from her best friend's husband saying how much he enjoyed the sex and couldn't wait for it to happen again. I didn't mention the note, but asked her if she wanted to break up. Thankfully, she said yes." —Anonymous 15."He moved across the country with me. I never asked him to because I wanted to focus on school/my career path. He was kind of floating around in life, which is fine, no judgment. But I've never met anyone who had no edge or ambition. Any logic/advice I gave went in one ear and out the other. I made it clear he'd need a game plan, like learning a trade, going to school, or getting a job. I was supportive of his new possible opportunities. He had no savings; his parents paid for his rent, groceries, and brand-new cars — hence the lack of ambition. It always stumped me how it was 'all words, no action' while having a pity party for himself. He was in his early 20s. I felt like a therapist, mom, and life coach all in one. So many things bothered me. He'd talk shit about his family and only hit up his mom for money. His insecurities were through the roof." "One of the small gigs he had, I remember he got upset that his coworker corrected him. He decided to describe her using very derogatory language. The final straw was when I picked his mom up while he was at work. She asked how I liked the new apartment. I was confused because I'd been living in the same place for over a year. She was told that we moved to a bigger place last week. For whatever reason, he lied on both sides. So he lied to them about where he lived and led me to believe they were in the loop. Like multiple full-on conversations about money differences for a bigger place. The level of disrespect sent me through the roof. Waste of time and energy is an understatement. Covert narcissism at its finest." —Anonymous 16."I found out that my ex was sleeping with the barmaid in our local bar behind my back. I realized this when he called me her name during sex one time. She had a very unusual name. Safe to say he got dumped, and I don't drink in that bar anymore." —Anonymous 17."I dated my ex-husband for two years before marrying him. I found out a couple of months later that I was his seventh wife and he had five kids, each child with a different woman!" —Anonymous "I had long suspected her infidelities, but having three children with her had me working two jobs and doing more than my share for the betterment of our family. I even had a guy at a bar ask me if he could date my wife, knowing everything about her, and to my surprise, even about me! That was traumatic. It turned me into an alcoholic just to forget. Months later, she left on a 'business trip.' This time, though, she didn't use a rental car, but borrowed her sister's car to travel and fly out of another city. I never thought anything of it, but the second night, I sat at the computer and once again noticed her email password under the keyboard. I took it as a sign, and upon opening her account, I saw the messages between her and her other boyfriend she met on a plane ride for work, which detailed their fling in New Mexico. That was 22 years down the drain." "I was devastated and couldn't sleep the whole night. The next day, I went to tell my mother-in-law that I couldn't support her lies and deceit any longer. She understood and said she was sorry. That experience changed me for the better. I've found it hard to love someone again, but at least our children love me and appreciate all that I did and continue to do for them. Call me an optimist! Someday, I'll find the one who will fill my heart again." —Anonymous Have you ever been betrayed by a partner? What did you learn that ended the relationship for good? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 (HOPE), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of domestic violence, call 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate via the website.
Daily Mail
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The REAL victim of the Coldplay cheating scandal - and it's not the betrayed spouses says Psychologist JULIET ROSENFELD
A n affair, whether in gossip columns or real life, fascinates us, as the ' Coldplay couple' have proven. When married tech CEO Andy Byron and his married head of human resources, Kristin Cabot, were caught on a 'kiss cam' at a Coldplay concert in Boston, millions watched the video, hundreds of memes and commentaries quickly followed. His wealth, their deceit, the very public 'outing' and perhaps the pleasure we get from comeuppance, particularly when privilege is involved, kept the story alive. The headline-grabbing reveal of two attractive people who are having sex (we presume) but are married to others was shown to have a timeless appeal, leaving some with a pleasing sense of moral superiority and others feeling Schadenfreude. What is less well understood and much more enduring – sometimes lifelong – is the disastrous impact of an affair on children. Cabot is a stepmother to her husband Andrew's children, while Byron and his wife have two sons together.
RNZ News
27-07-2025
- RNZ News
Nelson's Le Posh bakery duo escape to Australia amid debt claims
By Tracy Neal of Veronica and Didier Crevecour ran the French patisserie in Nelson, before opening another in Tāhunanui. Photo: NZME An acquaintance of a couple who ran French bakery Le Posh said they appeared to have fled the country suddenly, leaving a household of personal items, including a 40-year collection of souvenir bells from around the world. A civil claim against Veronica and Didier Crevecoeur over unpaid rent on commercial premises in Nelson has lifted the lid on a trail of debt and deceit left by the couple. NZME recently revealed how the pair failed to appear in the Nelson District Court in June for a hearing in which they were ordered to pay more than $29,000 in unpaid rent, damages and legal costs to the owners of a building where they ran one of their bakeries. Other people claimed they too had been left out of pocket after dealings with the couple who arrived in New Zealand about 2018. Now, two more people have come forward, saying they are also owed money. Veronica and Didier Crevecoeur Photo: NZME / supplied Software engineer Steve, who lived near the Crevecoeurs in an exclusive area of Nelson's port hills, considered the couple as friends. "At some point, Veronica came to see me - I think it was in November last year. She called me and said, 'I need your help, can I come to see you?'" Steve alleged Veronica then told him a "very strange story" about her father and someone she knew in Spain, and how they needed about 3000-4000 Euros ($NZ5800-7804) to send. He said she was very convincing, but he did not have that kind of money to lend. In the days before the Crevecoeurs left, Steve said Veronica sent him another message, asking again for money. He alleged she needed almost $1000 to cover what he believed might have been rent. "I didn't send the money, but she was very insistent. "She sent me many messages in a way that was very strange." Steve said he began to get suspicious, but finally relented and gave Veronica a couple of hundred dollars. "She was saying, 'I will pay you back tomorrow, I will pay you back tomorrow', and then she sent me more messages asking for more [money]." Steve arranged to pay $300 via a bank transfer, so he had a record, then tried to reach the couple a few days later, but said he got no reply. The Crevecoeurs had left, without paying it back. Steve understood the couple flew to Perth, where they had family, a few days after his final communication with them on 20 February. He was curious about why she did not respond to his text messages, so he went to the home they rented. He found them gone, and the landlord sorting through a stack of expensive clothes, a huge collection of shoes and the large collection of souvenir bells. Los Galanes played a Bastille Day function in Blenheim, but never received full payment. Photo: NZME / Los Galanes Nelson-based Italian/Kiwi musician Raffaele Bandoli said the Latin band he played in was left out of pocket, when the Crevecoeurs failed to pay in full, after hiring them to mark France's Bastille Day at an event in Blenheim in July 2019. Bandoli said the band - Los Galanes - was paid a $1100 deposit for the $2245 gig, but he claims they never saw the rest of it. Bandoli said band leader and founder Jose Luis Perez paid individual band members from his own pocket. Los Galanes, which at times has been a 10-piece band, was then a seven-piece. "He was such a responsible and nice person that he paid all the members of the band regardless," Bandoli said. He wanted to speak out, in honour of Perez, who died suddenly in March last year, while travelling in Europe with partner and band administrator Rebecca Knox. Knox said Perez always paid his musicians a set fee, but the "biggie" for them was Veronica Crevecoeur. "At first, she was really lovely to deal with," she said. The band covered its own costs travelling from Nelson to Blenheim, the event went well and the Crevecoeurs seemed pleased. An invoice was sent, but she claims there was no reply. Another statement was sent and they tried contacting the Crevecoeurs by phone, but still nothing. They hired a debt collector to recover the money, but when he went to serve the notice in Blenheim, the premises were empty. Knox said Perez had pleaded with Veronica to pay the remainder of the fee. "Jose would leave messages saying, 'Veronica, this is really urgent for the survival of the band'." When she noticed the shop Le Posh pop up in Nelson, it was "a massive red flag". Knox was then floored, when she saw the second Le Posh open up near Nelson's Tāhunanui Beach. The Crevecoeurs moved to Nelson from Marlborough about 2021. The opening of the second store was the beginning of the end of their New Zealand chapter. The property investment firm, Tawero Holdings (No 2) Ltd, from whom the Crevecoeurs leased the second premises in November 2022, lodged court action, when they abandoned the lease, owing $13,175 in rent and outgoings. A spokesperson for Tawero claimed the couple were masters of deceit. He said taking legal action was a decision not made lightly, but "a lot of deception" had been at play. "We are not novices at this and we were taken in." Tawero Holdings was granted, a summary judgement of $22,547 against the Crevecoeurs, as well as several thousand more in costs associated with reletting the premises, plus damages. One of two Le Posh locations in Nelson. Photo: NZME Steve decided to share his story, after reading about what else they had done. He and his wife had shared a few dinners with the Crevecoeurs at each others' homes or at a nearby Thai restaurant. Their last dinner together was earlier this year, when the Crevecoeurs brought French food to share and some drink. He believed they had Australian citizenship, and planned to spend six months there and six months in France, where they owned a small house near Dieppe, where Didier was from. "They want to split their time in France between there and Paris, because Veronica really loves Paris," Steve said. NZME has been unable to locate the Crevecoeurs for comment. -This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
The Guardian
15-06-2025
- The Guardian
Perjury cases are rare in family law in Australia. Experts say courts need to be better at cracking down on lying
In the family court several years ago, a man wove a web of deceit. He forged bank records and other documents in a lie that would later unravel. He had launched a case seeking property orders after splitting with his partner. He later made claims to the court, backed up by documents, about when he sold his business. The claims were strongly in his favour. But after the original documents were sought, the judge discovered the man had lied, altering dates on bank documents and lying about other matters. The man's deceit was referred to police and he was charged with giving false testimony and fabricating evidence in court. The man was subsequently sentenced to more than a year in jail in a state court. Prosecutions for perjury – when someone lies under oath to the court – are 'extremely rare' in family court cases, experts say. One lawyer says she hopes the above case will deter people from being deceptive in court in the future. But experts say courts need to be better at cracking down on people who bend the truth for personal gain – and refer cases to police when perjury is suspected, especially in domestic and family violence matters. Vivian Galanis, the managing principal solicitor at Wallumatta Legal, says perjury before the family court often involves selective disclosure, omissions or inconsistencies that can be difficult to untangle. 'In my experience, dishonesty often comes up around financial disclosure where one party may downplay assets, debts or income,' she says. 'It's hard to say how often perjury actually happens because unless the other party has the means to investigate and contradict the evidence, it tends to go unchallenged.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The family court can't investigate perjury allegations – they need to be referred to the Australian federal police, and someone found guilty faces up to five years in prison. But there are other powers available to the family court if a judge suspects a party hasn't met their obligation of making a 'full and frank' disclosure, such as the judge awarding a greater share of the assets to the person they believe has told the truth. They can also allow certain documents to be subpoenaed. Galanis said even when there is a strong suspicion of dishonesty, formal referrals to police are extremely rare in the case of family court cases, and prosecutions for perjury rarer still. From 2014 to 2019, there were no court referrals to investigate potential perjury offences in the family court, according to a 2021 government report on the family law system. There were no prosecutions for perjury in relation to family court cases during that time. The same report stated that many submissions to the review suggested there needed to be tougher penalties for false allegations or providing false evidence. But while the report noted concerns about perjury in family court cases were widespread, it said actual cases were relatively rare. However, Justin Dowd, who is now semi-retired after working in family law for 50 years, says: 'I think sadly the court has, over time, become immune, if not to people telling outright lies, then certainly bending the truth to advance their case. 'Various times when people have lied to the court, particularly by underestimating their finances, the court had penalised them financially, but not referred it on.' Dowd says even if it is referred, it doesn't mean the AFP will investigate. Sometimes, there are other higher priority investigations. Resourcing was raised as an issue in the judgment for the man convicted of perjury over his family court case. The investigation began several years after it was referred to the police by the court. The federal police said the delay was due to the pandemic and the redirection of resources. The judge considered the impact on his family when sentencing the man after receiving character references from other people. Galanis says dishonesty in the family court is a particular issue for women who have experienced coercive control or financial abuse. 'The family law process can become another battleground,' she says. 'When an ex-partner continues to lie, hide assets or withholds information, it doesn't just undermine the legal process, it re-traumatises, reinforcing the same dynamics of power and control they have fought so hard to escape. 'These clients are often faced with a difficult choice: whether to invest more time, money, and emotional energy in uncovering financial dishonesty, or to accept an outcome that may be incomplete, but allows them to move on. It's a compromise no one should be forced to make, but many do.' Jess de Vries, director of legal services at Women's Legal Service Victoria, agrees that alleged perpetrators can manipulate the system to their advantage. 'We need the court to be relying on their enforcement mechanisms,' she says. 'We also need to know where there are real concerns about potential perjury, that it is referred to the AFP.' A woman currently involved in an asset dispute before the family court told Guardian Australia that she suspects her former partner is not being upfront about his earnings – and alleges this is a continuation of his controlling behaviour. She alleges he claimed in court he has not earned any money since they separated two years ago. However, due to being familiar with the nature of his work as a 'successful businessman' from the time they were together, she doesn't think that can be true. 'The narrative doesn't make sense,' she says. Getting to the bottom of such disputes can be costly – it can cost thousands of dollars to get financial records subpoenaed. On Tuesday, there were changes to the Family Law Act so that the duty of separating couples to disclose their finances now falls under that law. Before this, it sat under rules that guide how family law policies are applied. But de Vries is uncertain about how much of a difference this will make. 'The nature of the duty of financial disclosure will not change, and the consequences for non-compliance have not been updated as part of the amendments,' she says. She thinks the perjury case outlined above could have consequences, though. 'People are clearer on what the impacts can be if they perjure themselves, and that it can mean prison.'
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Police officer who faked working from home by weighing down the letter Z on his laptop keyboard for more than 100 hours is banned from the force for life
A former police officer has been barred from the profession after he faked more than 100 hours of work by holding down the 'z' key on his keyboard. PC Liam Reakes was found to have committed gross misconduct in a tribunal at Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead today. He would have been dismissed without notice if he had not already resigned last month, Bristol Live reported. The Yeovil-based officer admitted to holding down the key during numerous shifts for 103 hours between June and September 2024, sometimes for more than four hours at a time. In a subsequent audit of his keystrokes, it was discovered that he had been using the same tactic since the previous September, the hearing was told. Chairman of the panel Craig Holden called the behaviour 'deceitful and dishonest'. 'He had lied during the interview process when he could have come clean, and the activity was regular and sustained', Mr Holden added. PC Reakes admitted opening a blank Word document and holding the Z key for long periods of time, however he denied that it was to falsely give the impression he was working when he wasn't. Nevertheless he accepted his behaviour fell below the standards expected. Barrister Mark Ley-Morgan, representing Avon and Somerset Police, said: 'He knew he was being paid for work that he was not doing. 'We are all entitled to take a break and have a cup of tea but this was far beyond that. 'There is no place in the police service for dishonest officers.' He added that concerns about PC Reakes' performance in 2024 had led to meetings with his sergeant. PC Reakes argued that he was struggling with mental health issues and lacked the support and motivation which came from working alongside colleague sin an office, Mr Ley-Morgan said. He said that PC Reakes claimed that he held down the Z key to allow him to see his computer screen and respond quickly to messages. PC Reakes has been added to the national barred list preventing him from working in policing or law enforcement agencies again Last month, in a strikingly similar case Detective Constable Philippa Baskwill, who was also based in Somerset was dismissed without notice after she deliberately weighed down keys on her laptop more than 21 million times to make it appear as if she was working from home. The hearing heard how software used by the Professional Standards Department identified an abnormal number of keystrokes over prolonged periods of time, which prompted an investigation. The investigation found evidence that DC Baskwill opened documents and repeatedly depressed specific keys to make it appear as if she was working. This behaviour was identified on 17 separate days in 2023, varying from a few minutes to up to more than a four hours. A total of more than 21 million keystrokes were recorded in 2023, with almost three million in one month alone. The investigation also found evidence that DC Baskwill was also using her work laptop during shifts to do online shopping and search for flights. In November 2023, she was online shopping for a total of four hours and 30 minutes during one shift. In her account, DC Baskwill admitted to using her mobile phone to depress keys and prevent her laptop from going into standby.
