Benvenuto Picone
Introduction
Benvenuto Picone was a police constable with Merseyside Police who was dismissed without notice and barred from policing after a misconduct panel found he had passed off his partner’s university work as his own and applied for a bank loan in her name without her consent. Picone joined the force in March 2021 through an apprenticeship programme involving study at Liverpool John Moores University, but between April 2022 and November 2023 his partner — identified only as “Person A” — completed or significantly contributed to nearly all of his assignments and wrote his dissertation, work for which he was awarded a degree. He admitted much of the conduct, but the panel told him he had acted “dishonestly and without any integrity” and found dismissal the only appropriate outcome.
Background Information
Picone joined Merseyside Police in March 2021 through the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship route, which combined operational training with study towards a degree at Liverpool John Moores University. Alongside his policing duties he was required to complete assignments and, ultimately, a dissertation. During his studies he was in a relationship with a woman referred to in the proceedings only as Person A, who by her own account in their WhatsApp exchanges spent many hours completing his assignments, checking formatting, tables and figures, and writing his dissertation. Separately, the couple had a history of financial difficulty, including home improvement costs and loan applications made individually and jointly.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Misconduct findings, not criminal convictions. The findings below come from a Merseyside Police misconduct hearing panel, which found the allegations proven on the balance of probabilities. They are regulatory adjudications rather than court judgments, and no criminal charges were reported in connection with this case.
Between April 2022 and November 2023, Person A completed or provided significant contributions to many of Picone’s assignments and completed his dissertation, which he submitted to Liverpool John Moores University as his own work. WhatsApp messages between the two showed them discussing deadlines, grades and work awaiting submission: in one, Person A said she was “doing a uni assignment” and later that she had finished it but was 200 words over the limit; after a grade came back, Picone complained, “Girl, you’re purposely getting me shit marks.” In November 2023, Person A referred to the hours she had spent on his dissertation and told him she had checked its formatting, tables and figures. Picone replied: “Na its boss nice one.” He was subsequently awarded the degree on that work. Per the Liverpool Echo, Person A completed all of his assignments save for one presentation task he had to complete himself on camera.
The panel also found that in October 2022, Picone applied to Santander for a loan in Person A’s name without her consent. The application was refused on 21 October 2022, and Person A confronted him because failed applications were damaging her credit history. Picone replied that he had tried a joint application but “it just wasn’t happening”, adding: “So I just went with yours.” In her own messages, Person A said she had “specifically said don’t just do mine [apply in my name] cos I’ll get knocked back”, and that she now had failed loan applications on her credit file.
Before the panel, Picone admitted the loan allegation and accepted that Person A had completed or significantly contributed to many assignments and had completed his dissertation, though he said his partner had also proof-read and critiqued his work and that his actions had arisen against a background of significant financial difficulty. He accepted that his conduct breached the honesty and integrity regulations. The panel found the allegations proven and determined that Picone had breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour relating to Honesty and Integrity and Discreditable Conduct, describing his conduct as “intentional, deliberate and planned” and involving repeated acts of dishonesty for personal advantage. It found his actions amounted to gross misconduct.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The panel told Picone he had acted “dishonestly and without any integrity” in applying for the Santander loan in another person’s name knowing she had not consented, and in submitting assignments and a dissertation to Liverpool John Moores University that he represented he had completed but which were completed by another person — conduct that “led to you being awarded a degree”. Although no evidence of actual harm to an individual or group was presented, the panel found his conduct had significant potential to undermine public confidence in policing, saying his repeated misconduct was “directly, and highly, relevant to the public standing and reputation of Merseyside Police” and that the public would consider it “deplorable”. It concluded a final written warning would not suffice and that his conduct was “wholly incompatible” with continued service.
Current Status
Picone was dismissed without notice from Merseyside Police, with the panel finding that to be the “only appropriate outcome”. His name has been added to the police barred list, banning him from working in policing anywhere in the UK. The degree he obtained on work largely completed by Person A was the subject of panel findings but neither source reports any university action to revoke it, nor any criminal proceedings. The hearing outcome was reported on 31 July 2026 by the Liverpool Echo and in late August 2026 by Misconduct999.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Picone lost the career he had held since March 2021 roughly at its fifth-year mark, and the barred list entry prevents him from rejoining any UK police force. The findings also formalise the central irony of the case: an officer whose training required him to uphold honesty and integrity obtained his policing qualification — the credential attesting to that training — through work his partner did for him. The misconduct finding is limited to the regulatory sphere, but its subject matter, dishonesty for personal advantage on both the degree and the loan, is the kind the panel singled out as deplorable and incompatible with police service.