A police service disciplinary hearing has ruled that a veteran Edmonton constable must forfeit the equivalent of $4,800 in pay after being convicted of drunk driving in 2008.

Const. Brian Toner, 50, was convicted in May 2008 of having care and control of a vehicle while impaired. He was handed a conditional discharge and 18 months' probation in provincial court last April.

In a decision released by a police disciplinary body Monday, Toner was suspended without pay for 80 hours and will immediately forfeit 40 hours of accumulated overtime as penalty for his behaviour and criminal conviction.

"The [Edmonton Police] Service has been very clear and consistent in its messaging about drunk driving and investigations of those (citizens and members of the Service) who disobey the criminal law and disciplinary regulations," said police Supt Mark Logar, who presided over the disciplinary hearing. He said arguments on behalf of Toner by the police association and representatives of the police department "do not even begin to reflect the gravity of the Constable’s misconduct ... provide an entirely insufficient denunciation, and furthermore serve as insufficient general and specific deterrence."

In February 2006, Toner was found intoxicated and passed out in his parked and running car three blocks from the west division police station. He had been drinking after his shift with some colleagues in the station. He was found by a fellow officer, who brought him back to the station and charged him.

According to the conditions of his probation, Toner was to seek treatment for alcoholism. He was to abstain from alcohol and provide a breath sample whenever requested. He was to have performed 30 hours of community service and cannot be in bars when off-duty.

Toner also was banned from driving for one year. At his sentencing last year, Toner told the court he has struggled with binge drinking most of his adult life. The drinking got worse in 1990 after he shot a man who attacked him with a knife while he was responding to a call.

Toner attended a 56-day residential treatment program in B.C. after he was charged in 2006 and said he has been sober ever since.