Detective who says she’s been forced to use food banks
PRITI Patel was warned police could turn to corruption after she was confronted by a detective who said she had to borrow £40 for petrol and use food banks.
Detective Constable Victoria Knight, 47, challenged the Home Secretary over police pay, saying the rise in the cost of living had left her reliant on handouts from family and facing the prospect of losing her home.
The child protection officer from North Wales Police, who earns £40,000 a year, claimed officers will be tempted by ‘backhanders’ from organised criminal gangs.
She spoke of having to survive on £100 a month for food after paying out her mortgage, pension, national insurance contributions and professional subscription fees.
It came as the Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales Steve Hartshorn said he planned to raise fears with Miss Patel about desperate officers accepting cash handouts from criminals. At the Police Federation’s annual conference yesterday, Mr Hartshorn said some officers were on the breadline as a result of a row over pay that led the body, which represents rank-andfile officers, to pass a vote of no confidence in the Home Secretary last year.
Miss Knight, a single parent of a 13-year-old son, asked Miss Patel if she could ‘survive’ on £1,200 a month as a probationary officer to ‘go out and get kicked and spat at’.
She said she works ‘with the most vulnerable members of our community and I love my job’, but added: ‘I went to see an accountant and the advice was leave the police, work for 22 hours a week and claim benefits and you will be better off. How can that be right?’
As Miss Patel looked visibly moved, Miss Knight went on: ‘I have never known it to be this bad in 23 years’ service. I have never felt this poor.’