A Metropolitan Police officer who pretended to be on-duty to get backstage access at All Points East festival has been fired from his job, following a Police Misconduct Hearing.
According to The Hackney Gazette, former force member Hasnain Awan allegedly told ticketing staff that he was due to perform police duties within the festival and was issued a wristband as a result.
During the hearing on May 5, the panel heard about Awan’s alleged involvement in the festival held on August 28, 2021, where he reportedly worked a shift. The following day, Awan, who was off-duty at the time, returned to the site, this time accompanied by a friend who was not a police officer. It is then alleged that Awan then went to the venue’s accreditation desk and told staff that he needed a new wristband because his own had been seized as evidence after getting stained with blood.
Both men entered the event, avoiding the £95 ticket fee. The Independent also adds that Awan reportedly entered the backstage area at the festival using his Met Police Service warrant card. Inspector May-Robinson, who was responsible for policing at the festival at the time of the incident, questioned PC Awan about his actions, which he quickly denied. He also told the inspector that staff were aware that he was not on duty.
A misconduct panel said: “By his own admission, he lied on more than one occasion, which the panel has found was for his own self-interest, that he knew exactly what he was doing and given this repeated behaviour is indicative of an attitudinal issue… He did not make open admissions at an early stage but rather initially sought to create yet another account and justification for his actions which, by his admissions and apologies, demonstrates that this too was a fabrication.”
PC Awan left the force on February 19, 2023, but the panel emphasised that he would have been fired had he not already resigned from the role.
