Top cop in trouble after bust-up over breasts
LONDON: A senior policewoman is set for a humiliating public disciplinary hearing after an alleged drunken row with a colleague over whose breasts were most attractive.
Assistant Chief Constable Rebekah Sutcliffe, 47, faces claims she exposed her bosom during a latenight fight and could be sacked if found guilty of gross misconduct.
She has been told she must face the tribunal later this year.
It is believed that Sutcliffe will become the most senior officer to undergo a public misconduct hearing, set up in an anti-corruption drive last year.
It will hear from witnesses who saw the altercation that led to Sutcliffe’s suspension from her £109 000 (R1.86 million) job as one of Greater Manchester Police’s highest-ranking officers.
In May, the mother-of-three, who has been married to two officers on the force, was at the Senior Women in Policing conference in Manchester, intended to boost the “profile and perception” of female officers.
But the evening ended in disgrace for Sutcliffe as she argued with her junior colleague Superintendent Sarah Jackson at a hotel bar. It is claimed Sutcliffe told her colleague she was “pandering to men” by having cosmetic surgery and tried to prove her own breasts were better by exposing them.
They were reported by a witness and, initially, both were told they faced investigation but Jackson has been told she is in the clear.
Social media photos show Sutcliffe “opened the gala event” of the conference, standing near Jackson at a party where wine flowed freely.
Greater Manchester Police said: “We can confirm that an investigation… has determined that a senior officer has a case to answer for gross misconduct and will face a disciplinary hearing.”
If the case against Sutcliffe were proved, she would be hit with sanctions ranging from “management advice” to dismissal.
It is the third investigation she has faced. Two years ago, she was investigated for failing to declare her relationship with Detective Superintendent Paul Rumney, then in charge of the force’s Professional Standards Branch, when she sat on a disciplinary panel.
In 2010, she was given “suitable advice” by a senior officer after reportedly trying to gatecrash a Labour Party conference event. – Mail On Sunday