Top terror officer may not face prosecution
A senior Police Scotland officer who was suspended after being accused of touching a woman ‘inappropriately’ may not be prosecuted.
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Pat Campbell was referred to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) after a complaint was made against him in December.
The watchdog later submitted their findings about the incident, which allegedly took place at a cyber conference, to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service(copfs)onfebruary18.
It is understood that a decision has been taken not to prosecute Mr Campbell, who headed up Police Scotland’s Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism unit, at this time.
A spokesperson for the COPFS said that the woman who made the allegationshadtherighttoreview its decision, adding: “Those directly involved have been informed of an update in this case and that there is a right to call for a review.
“Untilanyreviewhasbeen completed the question of whether or not there will be a prosecution remains open. The Crown reserves the right to proceed and will not comment further at this time.”
A senior officer can be suspended if an allegation, if proven, would be sufficiently serious to amount to misconduct or if the nature of the allegation means suspension is in the public interest.
In February, The Scotsman revealed that more than100servingpoliceofficershavebeensubjecttosexualoffenceallegationssince 2014,with20convicted.just five officers were dismissed following internal investigations, with 17 allowed to resign or retire.