Policeman accused of faking breathalyser test results

A Brussels police officer is being investigated on suspicion of faking breathalyser tests - after colleagues noticed that one of the drivers he had supposedly pulled over had been dead for some time.

For several months, the Montgomery police zone, covering Etterbeek, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, has set police officers a daily target for roadside drink-driving tests.

Sudpresse reports that, to meet his target, the officer is suspected of blowing into the breathalyser himself and then attributing the negative result to a made-up car registration number.

One of the test results set alarm bells ringing. "We realised that the owner of the car had been dead for some time," said Etterbeek mayor Vincent de Wolf, who chairs the local police disciplinary council.

"But we had a statement saying this person took a breathalyser test, which would have been complicated by their death."

The police officer denies the accusations and has 30 days to work on his defence ahead of a disciplinary hearing due in January. Sanctions could range from a simple warning to dismissal.