A POLICE officer accused of drink-driving walked free from court today because vital paperwork could not be found.

Pc Helen Hillsdon was pulled over in Queens Avenue, Bicester, in October last year.

The 43-year-old, from Woodstock, was arrested and taken to Aylesbury police station, 18 miles away, where a doctor took a blood sample.

This was alleged to have shown she was over the drink-driving limit.

Reading Magistrates’ Court was told the sample showed the amount of alcohol in the blood was said to be between 139 and 166 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit for driving is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

However, the court was told that the doctor who took the sample either did not write a certificate confirming that it was Mrs Hillsdon’s blood, or that subsequently the paperwork was lost.

Richard Thomas, prosecuting, said: “I have to offer no evidence in regard to this matter and invite you to disregard the charge.

“A procedural error occurr-ed when a blood sample was taken from Mrs Hillsdon at Aylesbury police station. No certificate was taken by the doctor who took it, or no certificate can be traced.

“Without it, I cannot prove the blood sent to the lab for analysis was Mrs Hillsdon’s blood. Therefore, I can offer no evidence.”

Pc Hillsdon, described as a “desk officer and not an operational officer”, sobbed in the dock as the prosecution explained why the case had to be dropped.

Mr Thomas said: “I can only apologise. I’m afraid it’s one of those matters that was complex, where the major issues were looked at by the Crown, by me, but both the police and I missed that procedural irregularity.

“This only came to light on Monday evening. I can only apologise on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service that this was not picked up earlier.

“It was overlooked when dealing with far more substantial issues. I should have picked it up, the police should have picked it up – and the doctor who took the sample.”

Presiding magistrate Michael Stone said: “Clearly, the case has gone down because of someone’s ineptitude and inadequacy.”

Pc Hillsdon had denied a charge of drink-driving on February 27 last year.

She declined to comment after the case was dismissed.

After the hearing, a police spokesman said: “Thames Valley Police can confirm Helen Hillsdon will remain on restricted duties while the professional standards de-partment carries out an internal investigation, to determine whether she will face any disciplinary action.”

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said it did not think the court would have agreed to adjourn the case to give them more time to find the certificate, so it was decided to drop the case.

He added: “The certificate to show the blood taken was the blood of the defendant would have to have been served on the defence seven days in advance of the trial.

“ It came to our attention the night before, when it was raised by the defence team.”

The CPS said it had a report from the person who had analysed the blood sample but not the certificate that specifically said it was taken from Mrs Hillsdon.

“An adverse outcome report will now be prepared for the Chief Crown Prosecutor, saying how the case ended up in this position.”