A Buckingham Palace protection officer was fired Monday after he attempted to cover up losing a bullet on the royal property at a misconduct hearing, claiming he felt “stupid, ashamed and embarrassed” by the blunder.
Stephen Cotgreave was alone guarding the palace garden in London on Dec. 6, 2022, when he accidently dropped his magazine, leading a single bullet to go missing on the grounds, the BBC reported.
When he brought the gun back to the armory following his shift and was questioned about the missing round, he said he could not explain where it went and denied dropping part of the gun — even though it was captured on surveillance footage, according to the outlet.
The lost bullet should have sparked an immediate search because of the risks it posed members of the royal household, a misconduct hearing reportedly heard on Monday.
Cotgreave, 48 at the time, finally found the missing bullet eight days later in the same area where he lost it, and came clean to his superiors.
The 24-year law enforcement vet said at the time he had felt “stupid, ashamed and embarrassed,” the BBC reported.
While Cotgreave, who before this incident had a clean record, fessed up, he rejected that his actions were gross misconduct. He claimed he lied initially in a “moment of madness.”
But the panel that determined Cotgreave’s fate called his actions an “abuse of trust, particularly as working in the royal household” and criticized him for lying to fellow officers three times, the BBC reported.
“We find the culpability in this matter to be high as there was a deliberate course of conduct by the officer which posed a risk to the welfare of the public and the royal household,” panel chair Harry Ireland KC reportedly said.
After the verdict came back, a disappointed Cotgreave was sent packing immediately.
