Police officer given suspended sentence for stealing cash at Cheltenham Festival

A police officer has been given a suspended sentence after stealing cash from two wallets handed to him during last year’s Cheltenham Festival.

Matthew Rollason, 38, who resigned from Gloucestershire Police after his arrest, pleaded guilty at Bristol crown court to two offences of theft committed on March 12 and 14 last year.

The first offence occurred when a member of the public at the festival handed a lost wallet to Rollason, who pocketed the money before registering it as lost property.

Following suspicions of his actions, Rollason was handed a wallet containing £200 by an undercover officer posing as a racegoer with the money once again removed before it was handed to lost property.

Rollason, who resigned in June last year, was sentenced on Thursday to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years concurrently on each charge, and was ordered to pay compensation of £100 to the first victim and £200 to the Constabulary as well as costs.

The court heard that Rollason had been experiencing 'difficult family circumstances' at the time of the offences but was not short of money.

Following the sentencing Jon Stratford, deputy chief constable of Gloucestershire, said: "The public must be able to trust the honesty and integrity of all police officers that they come into contact with.

"This officer abused that trust. His actions were deplorable and shameful both in the eyes of the public, those currently serving with the police, and those officers and staff that have previously served with this constabulary with pride.”

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