Watchdog labels cop bully probe ‘unsatisfactory’
POLICE CHIEF COMPLAINTS FARCE Force told to learn from dropped inquiry
A BULLYING probe against former chief constable Phil Gormley has been criticised by a watchdog.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary Gill Imery said it was “unsatisfactory” that investigations into him were abandoned.
Gormley faced five complaints which were taken up by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc).
Two others were looked into by Police Scotland.
But the investigations were dropped after he quit in February.
In her first annual report on Police Scotland, Imery wrote: “In February 2018, Mr Gormley resigned from his position as chief constable and the complaints process was halted at that point.
“Whilst this is correct under current procedures it is, in my view, unsatisfactory for those who come forward to make
CHARLIE GALL c.gall@dailyrecord.co.uk complaints as well as for those who are the subjects of complaint.”
She accepted that public scrutiny had made life difficult for the police.
But she added: “There are undoubtedly lessons to be learned from the way these events were handled.”
C l a i m s against Gormley included gross misconduct, which could have resulted in his sacking.
He quit after seven months of gardening leave.
Gormley insisted it would have been “impossible” to resume his position in a “meaningful” way.
The allegations, denied by Gormley, caused a political row involving the Scottish Police Authority and then justice minister Michael Matheson.
Gormley was replaced by Iain Livingstone. Cheese Straws Cocktail Sausage Rolls Cheeseboar d Bites Vegetable Spring Rolls Toad in the Hole
GILL IMERY
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