Accused of bullying by male colleague, officer leading VIP abuse team
A SCOTLAND Yard chief in overall charge of the force’s discredited VIP child sex abuse probe is facing an uncertain future after being accused of bullying a senior colleague.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Pat Gallan, a close ally of beleaguered Met boss Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, is being investigated for alleged misconduct.
Commander Dave Musker, the £90,000-a-year head of the force’s firearms command SCO 19, has made a formal complaint about the behaviour of Miss Gallan, who is the country’s most senior ethnic minority female officer .
The exact details could not be confirmed last night but are said to be ‘very serious’ and ‘potentially career threatening’.
Sources have suggested Mr Musker lodged a complaint in the aftermath of the fatal police shoot- ing of a black man last December. As Assistant Commissioner in charge of Specialist Crime and Operations, Miss Gallan oversees the running of a number of key units in the Met, including those involved in firearms operations and child abuse investigations.
Due to the seriousness of Mr Musker’s claims, and Miss Gallan’s seniority, the bullying probe is being headed by the head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, George Hamilton.
The investigation is another blow to Sir Bernard, whose leadership of the Met has been rocked by the unravelling VIP child sex probe, Operation Midland.
He has long been a supporter of Miss Gallan, despite previous concerns about her forceful management style, including when she worked under Sir Bernard as an assistant chief constable in Merseyside. A source said: ‘No official complaint was made but it was made clear to her that a number of superintendents were very unhappy about her management style.’
Sir Bernard continued to back her and soon after he became Met boss in 2011 Miss Gallan was appointed a Deputy Assistant Commissioner. In January last year she was promoted to joint number three in the force on a salary of about £180,000.
She has been tipped by some as a potential future commissioner but the bullying probe and questions about her supervision of Operation Midland, which is investigating far-fetched claims of serial murder and torture made by a suspected serial fantasist known as ‘Nick’, leave her future in doubt.
Like Sir Bernard, Miss Gallan has been criticised for not apologising to ‘hounded’ war hero Lord Bramall, 92, over Nick’s bogus child sex claims against him. She has also been lambasted over the Met’s handling of baseless rape allegations made against the late former Home Secretary Leon Brittan.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been made aware of the bullying inquiry.
Scotland Yard said last night: ‘The Met has asked the Police Service of Northern Ireland to carry out this investigation. Until the investigation has been completed it would be entirely inappropriate for us to comment on the details of the allegations or any evidence.’
Both Miss Gallan and Mr Musker declined to comment.