The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Shocking new claims over stolen dossier
Former assistant chief constable speaks out
POLICE SCOTLAND did not properly investigate the theft of a secret dossier on Tayside Police’s last chief constable, the senior officer who wrote the bombshell document has claimed.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier, former assistant chief constable Angela Wilson revealed she will make an official complaint about the matter to the Scottish Police Authority.
The document, which contained allegations about Chief Constable Justine Curran, was in Ms Wilson’s office in a secure corridor at the Bell Street headquarters in Dundee.
Although only a few staff had access to the corridor, a nine-month investigation was unable to identify a culprit or recover the dossier, stolen in April 2013. Ms Wilson insisted the culprit “was not somebody external”. smorkis@thecourier.co.uk
THE THEFT of a secret dossier on the last chief constable of Tayside Police was not investigated properly, the woman who compiled the bombshell document has claimed.
Angela Wilson was the assistant chief constable of Tayside Police when Justine Curran was chief constable.
She compiled the dossier on her superiors after a raft of anonymous complaints were made about the professionalism of Ms Curran and her deputy.
Now, a week after retiring from the force, she has revealed for the first time how she felt betrayed by the way the investigation into the theft from her office was handled.
Ms Wilson confirmed she is lodging an official complaint with watchdog the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) about the case.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier, she claims many within Tayside Police felt Ms Curran was more concerned with her next job than doing the best job for the people ofTayside.
Ms Curran’s tenure as chief constable of Tayside was dogged by allegations of misconduct, centring on unprofessional texts she sent to her personal assistant about the size of a colleague’s manhood.
Members of the now defunct Tayside Police Joint Board were also sent an anonymous document from “Friends of Tayside Police” regarding the allegedly unprofessional behaviour of Ms Curran and then deputy chief constable Gordon Scobbie.
The Courier revealed in May 2013 that a dossier collecting these allegations had been compiled by Ms Wilson but had been stolen from her office— shortly before the creation of Police Scotland and the departures of Ms Curran and Mr Scobbie.
Only a few employees of Tayside Police knew the code to access the secure corridor where the dossier was kept locked up in MsWilson’s office.
But a nine-month investigation was unable to find a culprit or recover the dossier, despite officers from Strathclyde being brought in toTayside to head up the probe.
“It’s public knowledge there were a number of complaints regarding Justine Curran and I believe Mr Scobbie, which were anonymous complaints that came from a number of different sources, I believe,” Ms Wilson said.
“Just because something is anonymous does not mean it is not true.
“In my view, particularly in the service, people will report things anonymously because they are fearful of standing up and being counted.
“There’s no way I would have spoken out before leaving the service for fear that somebody would interpret it as being a disciplinary offence.”
Ms Wilson said the original complaints about the behaviour of both Ms Curran and Mr Scobbie were not taken seriously enough.
“In my view those complaints were never fully and properly investigated. Maybe that was for political reasons because we were about to come to the end of Tayside Police? They maybe thought what’s the point?
“It’s also public knowledge that a file was taken from my office. That has never been detected but I can tell you it was not somebody external.
“That file did relate to complaints against Justine Curran and Gordon Scobbie.
“And I have made a complaint to the SPA about the quality of that investigation.”
Mv Wilson said the lack of interest in pursuing the theft of the dossier soured hey relationship with the police.
“What that did foy me, it actually made me feel quite unwell because I felt my trust in the integrity of the service was eroded.”
Mv Wilson vaid many senior officers in Tayside were unhappy with the leadership of Justine Curran and Gordon Scobbie.
“I don’t think they were motivated by delivering the best service they could to Tayside Police,” she said. “I think they both saw it as a stepping stone to other things.
“Did I find it difficult to work with them? Yes.”
Attempts to reach Mv Curran yesterday via Humberside Police were unsuccessful and My Scobbie could not be reached for comment.