Former police officer Peter Ravenscroft lied to land government jobs in Victoria

A former British law enforcement officer who lied about his qualifications and expertise to land two plum govt jobs following he moved to Victoria has been spared a jail time period.

But Peter Ravenscroft’s deceptions involving 2012 and 2017, when he was paid $456,000 by Frankston Metropolis Council and then $197,000 by the Victorian Ombudsman office environment, raise queries about what degree of scrutiny authorities employers use in their recruiting course of action.

Ravenscroft was a embellished and distinguished officer with practically 20 years’ provider with the Surrey and Sussex law enforcement forces when he moved to Melbourne with his relatives in 2007 and was hired by the Office environment of Police Integrity and then worked with Victoria’s Section of Treasury and Finance.

In late 2012, he productively applied to function at Frankston City Council as a compliance basic safety supervisor, embellishing his knowledge as a law enforcement officer in Britain and lying about his instructional skills, the County Court docket heard on Wednesday.

Choose Angela Ellis mentioned Ravenscroft experienced lied to the council about currently being element of Britain’s national crime squad and falsely claimed he had earned skills from Leeds, Aston and Brighton universities.

His assertions that he experienced acquired diplomas from Learn Builders Victoria, the Australian Institute of Management and “Guildford University” were also lies, the court docket read. The latter does not exist, the court heard, even though the University of Surrey is situated in the city of Guildford.

Ravenscroft was compensated $456,000 in salary and superannuation at Frankston Council, the courtroom heard, right up until he still left and joined the Victorian Ombudsman business, in spite of getting beneath investigation by the council.

Making use of the exact phoney qualifications he set to the council, he was appointed assistant director of strategic investigations at the Ombudsman business office and worked there from January 2016 to February 2017. He was paid $197,000 in income and superannuation. He did not notify his new employer he was currently being investigated by the council.

Ravenscroft was arrested in 2020 and later on pleaded guilty to two counts of acquiring a economic edge by deception and one particular of perjury.

On Wednesday, Ellis claimed the 56-year-old’s deceptions have been severe and “probably completely unnecessary”, as he could have landed the positions with his authentic expertise, and all through his time at Frankston Metropolis Council he was regarded as an “exemplary” personnel.