A POLICE officer convicted of drink-driving off-duty has been sacked by North Wales police.

A court had rejected his claim that he’d only been over the limit after downing most of a bottle of wine when he’d stopped his car and entered a field to self-harm.

PC Robert Hill, 32, of Prestatyn, who’d just passed his sergeant’s exam, had denied driving a Vauxhall Astra with a breath-alcohol count of 54 on the night of July 18. The legal limit is 35.

Now a special case police misconduct hearing has been conducted by chief constable Carl Foulkes at police headquarters, Colwyn Bay. PC Hill faced an allegation that he had breached the standards of professional behaviour.

Chief constable Foulkes considered representations from PC Hill’s Police Federation representative about the circumstances of the offence and PC Hill’s personal life at the time.

In a statement the force said :”Chief constable Foulkes recognised that PC Hill was a good officer who was going through a difficult period in his life. However, this was balanced against the fact that PC Hill did not accept his conviction and there had been a potential for serious harm to have been caused on the night in question.

“Having considered all of the circumstances, mitigating and aggravating factors, the outcome was dismissal without notice. PC Hill will now be added to the barred list as maintained by the College of Policing.”