Anti-terror officer fired days before retirement
But top policeman who had secret papers stolen from car keeps pension
ATOP counter-terror chief who left secret papers in his car before they were stolen has been sacked just days before retirement.
Marcus Beale, former head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, was dismissed without notice after a disciplinary hearing by West Midlands Police Chief Constable Dave Thompson.
But he will retire with a full pen- sion and his £215,000 lump sum because the hearing took place after April 6, when his pension becomes active.
ASENIOR counter-terror chief found guilty of gross misconduct after losing top secret documents has been sacked just days before he was due to retire.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, former head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, was dismissed without notice at a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday.
But he will retire with a full pension and his £215,000 lump sum because the hearing took place after April 6, understood to be the date his pension becomes active.
A previous hearing had been due to be held on March 29 but was postponed just hours before for a judicial review.
His sacking comes just ten days before ACC Beale was officially due to retire on April 28 after 30 years service in the police.
The dismissal backed a panel’s hearing back in February which found him guilty of gross misconduct and recommended his dismissal.
West Midlands Police Chief Constable Dave Thompson had the final say on his fate.
Giving his decision, he said: “His actions were careless if not reckless. The conduct in this case caused a serious criminal conviction. He was a senior officer who should have known better.
“I am sure the public would recognise the great service and he can retire securely. He has been outstanding.
“It is with huge personal regret that he is dismissed without notice.”
John Beggs QC, representing ACC Beale, had urged Mr Thompson to give him a written warning, saying the incident was a “one-off blemish which cannot obliterate a phenomenal contribution to policing.”
He said: “No-one is more ashamed and upset than Mr Beale himself. A sanction of dismissal would be merely symbolic since he tendered his intention to retire on March 29 and will retire on April 28.
“This dismissal is not necessary for the maintenance of public confidence in policing.
“The public would readily understand why in relation to an officer whose contribution to policing has been quite outstanding and whose retirement beckons in a matter of days. Dismissal is not required.”
ACC Beale, who is 54, had been working in his role as ACC since June 2011.
A previous hearing heard how ACC Beale discovered the top secret documents had been stolen from his unmarked Jaguar car on May 15 last year.
On May 10 he was handed a brown envelope by the personal assistant to Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit.
The envelope contained minutes from an executive liaison group meeting with the words ‘Top Secret’ which he placed in his briefcase.
He had placed the briefcase in the rear of his car as he visited a pub with Alistair Sutherland, the Deputy Commissioner for City of London Police. The car was kept in a secure compound at the police station.
The briefcase was then placed in the boot on his return and left in the vehicle for four days as he went on a trip to London with his wife returning on May 13.
But he discovered the briefcase was missing on the afternoon of May 15 when he pulled up at Warwick Services while on a visit to Oxford and checked the boot.
In December magistrates handed him a £3,500 fine after he admitted leaving the papers in a locked suitcase in his unmarked police car.
He pleaded guilty to failing to safeguard information under the Official Secrets Act, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.