A senior police officer who left top secret documents in the boot of his car for five days before they were stolen has been dismissed without notice.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale was found guilty of gross misconduct by a disciplinary panel in February which recommended he should be dismissed.
West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson made the decision to sack Mr Beale during a special case hearing.
Mr Beale had been due to retire this month after 30 years of police service.
Mr Beale left several classified documents in the boot of his car on 10 May 2017 and only realised they were missing five days later.
In December, Mr Beale admitted failing to safeguard information under the Official Secrets Act at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was fined £3,500.
The documents included top secret minutes of a meeting of the Executive Liaison Group, which passes on intelligence of major covert terror investigations to police forces, as well as highly sensitive information about a high-profile investigation.
'Serious criminal conviction'
The location of the documents, which police said were not supposed to have been taken off police premises, remains a "mystery".
During the five days the documents were in the boot of Mr Beale's car, it had been parked in several different locations, including at a railway station while he had a weekend away in London with his wife, a pub and a supermarket.
Mr Thompson said: "The conduct in this case is a serious criminal conviction for improperly caring for documents.
"The misconduct in this case is serious and is very likely to undermine public confidence in policing."
Mr Beale's counsel John Beggs QC said in light of his imminent retirement, dismissal would be "merely symbolic", adding the 54-year-old's failings had been "unintentional with no malice or premeditation".