A SACKED policeman ‘acted improperly’ by claiming an anonymity order had been put in place to stop his name and details about his misconduct from being made public, the High Court heard.

Terry Cooke, a former Hampshire Constabulary officer, and his lawyers threatened the Gazette with legal action after it sought to report his name when he was dismissed from the force following a secret tribunal in April 2021.

But it later emerged that this was false, leading a High Court judge to dismiss the officer’s attempts to remain anonymous at a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in January. 

In a victory for open justice, the newspaper is now able to report the full details relating to the Basingstoke officer’s dismissal after his anonymity application was rejected.

SEE MORE: Basingstoke policeman ‘abused his position’ to target young women he found attractive

You can read the full story in this week’s edition of The Gazette. Also in this week's paper:

  • The AA headquarters building in Basingstoke glowed blue and pink this week to raise awareness for a youngster who has been diagnosed with a rare condition
  • The latest budget proposals have been approved by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council despite them coming under fire by senior opposition councillors. We have all the latest from this weeks full council meeting
  • The ‘ringleader’ of an organised criminal gang which used explosives to try and steal from 14 cash machines across Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey has been sentenced to 17 years in prison
  • An outline planning application has been submitted to build 101 entry-level dwellings with parking and landscaping on ‘controversial’ land in Sherfield-on-Loddon
  • There have been more reports of car meets in a Sainsbury’s car park after automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) has failed to act as a deterrent
  • A man accused of killing a couple at their South Ham home says that footage thought to show him leaving the scene on his motorbike is actually of another biker because ‘he didn’t have his lights on’ and left 25 minutes earlier
  • An Overton man who escaped from Ukraine just days before the start of the war is now coordinating with a group of friends to set up a station in Slovakia for escaping refugees. PLUS find out how Basingstoke residents have been gathering hundreds of items to help those who need it
  • A man who shot a person in a random attack using a crossbow, leaving his victim having nightmares, has been given a hospital order
  • A young mother who has given birth to premature twins is unable to bring them home after her house was “declared uninhabitable” due to mould
  • An 89-year-old care home resident from Basingstoke will be jumping out of a plane at 15,000ft in a bid to raise money for a charity
  • PLUS: All the latest from Basingstoke Magistrates' Court
  • Two pages of your letters to the editor
  • Two pages of news from our communities
  • An eight-page puzzle special
  • Two pages of business news
  • Three pages of entertainment news
  • Four pages of sports news. And much more!

READ MORE: Film crews arrive again in Basingstoke to shoot mystery production

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