Police lawyer who gossiped about affair loses tribunal case

A LAWYER for a police force who claimed she helped cover up an alleged affair between senior officers deserved to be sacked for gossiping about it, a tribunal has found.

Denise Aubrey was dismissed from Northumbria Police for gross misconduct in 2014 after she spoke to colleagues about alleged extramarital trysts between ex-chief Constable Mike Craik and his deputy Carolyn Peacock.

The 54-year-old sued the force for unfair dismissal, claiming the alleged relationship was common knowledge. But yesterday, a judge ruled the former head of legal services spoke out of turn about her boss’s personal life in ‘the heat of the moment’ to prove she was trusted by Mr Craik.

She also ‘converted rumour into fact’, it was said.

During the four-week hearing in May, Northumbria police was accused of using ‘public time and money’ to cover up the alleged affair. North Shields Employment Tribunal also heard allegations about a fight between Mr Craik and Mrs Peacock’s husband Jim, another senior officer, at a barbecue. It was claimed police attended Mr Craik’s home but officers were told to deny the incident happened and remove it from the police log.

Judge Humphrey Forrest said Miss Aubrey was fairly dismissed, saying: ‘In her role as head of legal services, she gave the rumours “credibility”.

‘It was made for purely self-serving personal reasons, in anger and in the heat of the moment…There can be no confidence that secrets will be kept in future. Dismissal fairly followed.’ He added that her misconduct was ‘serious and substantial’.

Miss Aubrey, who claimed unfair dismissal on the grounds of harassment and discrimination, said she was ‘disappointed’ by the ruling. Mr Craik and the Peacocks denied the affair or any wrongdoing. Northumbria Chief Constable Steve Ashman said he was ‘delighted’ at the outcome.