Detective Sergeant Gary Waite, the first police officer to reach the scene of the 2017 Westminster Bridge terror attack, has been placed on the police barred list after a misconduct panel found he lied to cover for a junior colleague and asked him for Viagra. Waite resigned in March 2026 shortly before his gross misconduct hearing was due to take place, but the panel ruled that had he not quit he would have been sacked without notice. The case matters because it shows a decorated officer abused a position of trust and supervisory authority, engaging in dishonest and inappropriate conduct that undermined discipline within his team.

The panel found Waite falsely recorded his subordinate, Detective Pervaz Malik, as being on duty on nine occasions between June 2022 and July 2023, including times when Malik was abroad. Messages disclosed during the investigation showed Malik requesting time off in exchange for bringing Waite "4 blue" pills, understood to mean Viagra, which Waite initially denied receiving before admitting he thought it would help his intimacy with his wife. Malik was separately dismissed earlier in 2026 for organising sex workers and facilitating the supply of Class A drugs, though neither officer faced further criminal action after their respective arrests. The Independent Office for Police Conduct said Waite's dishonesty disadvantaged the rest of his team and confirmed both men are now barred from working in policing.