Met job for scandal top cop who retired with £500,000
A CONTROVERSIAL ex- chief constable has landed a top job at the Metropolitan Police less than three years after retiring with a £500,000 pension payout.
Sir Steve House, 60, was forced to quit as head of Police Scotland in 2015 after a string of scandals.
But yesterday he was appointed an assistant commissioner on around £190,000 a year. He has been drafted into the Met’s third most senior rank to tackle its tarnished policy on disclosure of evidence.
Thousands of rape prosecutions are being reviewed by police, including 600 by Scotland Yard, after cases fell apart due to failures in disclosing evidence to defence teams.
Sir Steve was hit by a wave of controversies during his time in Scotland, including the failure of his officers to respond to a report of a car crash on the M9 near Stirling.
Lamara Bell, 25, spent three days undiscovered in a vehicle alongside the dead body of her partner John Yuill, 28, before she later died in hospital.
There was also an outcry over Sir Steve’s secret decision to authorise specialist firearms officers to carry holstered hand- guns on routine duties and the use of stop and search powers on children. He was reportedly forced out when Police Scotland officers threatened to quit unless he resigned.
Yet he retained the confidence of Met commissioner Cressida Dick, who played a crucial role in bringing him out of retirement.
However, Sir Steve’s selection has caused divisions at Britain’s biggest force, with a ‘deeply disappointed’ deputy assistant commissioner Fiona Taylor quitting after being snubbed for the post. Sources said she did not wish to work under Sir Steve again – a former colleague in Scotland – whose hard-nosed management style earned him the nickname ‘Bleak House’.
A senior officer said: ‘Steve House has a lot of experience and clearly has the trust of the commissioner but there are a lot of good, up-and- coming officers who will be disappointed a 60-year-old has been brought out of retirement for such a big job.’
Since retiring, Sir Steve has received a police pension worth about £100,000 a year, on top of the enormous lump sum he was entitled to on retiring.
He also set up his own company, with his recently deleted LinkedIn professional networking page showing him listed as director of management consultancy firm Sarantium Solutions Ltd.
Last month Scotland Yard declined to answer questions about his impending return, pension arrangements and Miss Taylor’s departure.
But yesterday the force said Sir Steve’s contract would run for five years from March 5, during which time he will not draw his pension.
Sir Steve said: ‘I am delighted to have the opportunity to return to the Met at such a busy and challenging time.’
Miss Dick hailed his appointment as ‘a great addition to our team’.
‘Hard-nosed management’