John Tostevin – an ex-traffic Sergeant who had served in the force for 30 years – used the vehicle licensing database to obtain enough information to enable him to transfer the ownership of the defunct plates to himself.
He also forged a ‘change of keeper’ document to have himself made owner of a Hyundai, when the original owner thought they were giving it to the Fire and Rescue Service.
The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to ten counts of fraud and illegally obtaining data and was this week sentenced to 150 hours of community service.
During the hearing, Guernsey’s Magistrate’s Court was told that Tostevin committed the crimes while he was suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sentencing the former officer, judge Philip Robey said the crime was serious but that he had taken into account Tostevin’s health problems.
‘There were exceptional circumstances in this case.
‘But for that, you could not have escaped a prison sentence today,’ he said.
Judge Robey highlighted that while this had harmed the public’s confidence in the police, the loss suffered by the victims was negligible.
He added that he knew Tostevin had seen terrible things during his career and, after reading a report from a doctor, he was in no doubt that the former Sergeant was struggling with mental health problems.
Following the case Guernsey Police Chief Patrick Rice said there were adequate checks in place for the public to have confidence in the force, but added that if a person was intent on committing a crime, there was little they could do.
Tostevin, who led the police’s road traffic team for years and was responsible for many of the force’s drink-drive campaigns, resigned from the force before the sentencing hearing.
POLICE were called out in Guernsey after up to 20 teenagers became embroiled in a mass apple-throwing disturbance.
Officers were deployed to an area outside St Sampson’s High when the youths began shouting, swearing and launching small apples at each other.
Some of the fruit missed their intended targets and ended up splattered on nearby homes.
Local resident Phil Ozanne said: ‘I heard a lot of shouting, and swearing for that matter. I got some apples in my garden. It is just ridiculous.
‘You can imagine what it was like when they all kicked off. They were throwing apples everywhere.’
Neighbour Charles Masterton was equally annoyed with the fruity disturbance.
‘I have never seen anything like this,’ he said. ‘They were making a noise and making a nuisance of themselves.’
In a statement, St Sampson’s High said that they expected students ‘to behave appropriately both in and out of school’, and added: ‘We will follow this up with the students when they return to school.’
Teachers later ordered the children to clear up the squashed fruit, which lay around the road, paths, hedges and nearby gardens. It is not believed the police made any arrests.
