Police sergeant sacked for threatening driving school after son didn’t pass test

Gabriel Chandler waged a campaign of abuse against the driving school, making up to 50 calls to their office a day

The police sergeant was dismissed from his role after making false claims that a driving school was linked to ‘funding drugs and child sexual exploitation’ (PA)

A police sergeant who threatened the bosses of a driving school after his son was unable to take a course has been dismissed from the force.

Gabriel Chandler, who had worked for Kent Police since 2002, waged a campaign of abuse against driving school Intensives UK after his son failed to complete the requirements to begin an intensive driving course with the company.

A misconduct hearing, held between 8 and 12 December 2025, found his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and he was dismissed without notice.

PS Chandler sent a series of abusive emails and made a high number of calls to bosses of Intensives UK and company owner Mark Elliot, making false claims that the firm was linked to “funding drugs, paedophilia and child sexual exploitation” as he accused it of running a scam.

After booking the course in June 2021, the sergeant paid £1,359 to the company, comprising a deposit and fees, with the deposit non-refundable. Before the driving course could begin, his son was required to have passed a theory test.

After his son had either failed or not taken the theory test and could not take the course, PS Chandler demanded a full refund and was offered £1,122 in March 2022, which he did not accept.

From February to August 2022, PS Chandler sometimes made between 30 and 50 calls per day to Mr Elliot and the Intensives UK office number, as he used his status as a police officer to threaten them and mention jail time in response to the situation, the misconduct panel found.

In an email on 11 March, he wrote: “Detective Sergeant Gabriel Candler (sic) at your service. Please call me any time. You can look up criminals I've taken over the years on [local news website] Kent online.”

PS Chandler had worked for Kent Police since 2002 (PA)

That same day, he also sent to the company: “Do the right thing because once this starts, I can't stop it.

“You’re (sic) homes and offices will be raided. You will all face heavy custodial sentences. And in my experience fraudsters aren’t built for prison. Your families they’ll be ripped apart.”

The panel also found that, during that period, the officer also left “numerous, malicious and persistent” reviews online to business pages linked to the company, in which he accused them of being fraudulent.

He also stated: “Return the money you have stolen from all these people” and “close down your fraudulent sites” as he claimed that the staff at Intensives UK were “organised criminals who are linked on the dark web for funding drugs, paedophilia and child sexual exploitation”.

In a further abusive email on 20 March, he wrote: “Your (sic) a thief. I will will (sic) be on you relentlessly till I see you inside or you pay back my money.

“Yes I’m enjoying this. Lots more to come. Dig in for another week. I’m not going anywhere.

“Try and sleep. While you can. A storms (sic) heading your way.”

Mr Elliot reported the matter to the police in August 2022. In response, PS Chandler emailed the force’s professional standards department stating that he wished to make them aware of potential “malicious reports” from “criminals”.

In the hearing, PS Chandler said he felt he had to communicate in such a manner “to demonstrate to the company that he was not going to allow it to push him around, as he felt it had done to other people who had complained.”

The report added: “He believed the company was operating in a fraudulent manner and he had to protect the public from them, particularly pensioners, young people and children.”

However, the panel did not accept this explanation. It found he was an “experienced and intelligent” officer, but said he used his position to “seek to threaten and intimidate Mark Elliot and the company”.

It decided that the only sanction it could pass was dismissing PS Chandler without notice.

Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Armory, Kent Police’s head of professional standards, said: “Even when off duty, police officers are still held to the highest standards of professional conduct and in this case PC Chandler’s behaviour fell far below what is expected of our officers and staff.

“The vast majority of Kent Police officers and staff uphold the expected standards of Kent Police, often going above and beyond to ensure crimes are solved, victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice.

“When officers do not conduct themselves in the manner expected, either on or off duty, it is only right that they are held accountable for their actions.”