Police pay £430k to sex attack victim ‘forced out by toxic bullying culture’
Officer’s career ‘ruined by misogynistic boys’ club’
A FORMER police officer who was sexually assaulted by a colleague has said she can now start ‘healing’ after she was handed more than £430,000 by the force.
Gemma MacRae said her career was ruined by a misogynistic ‘boys’ club’ at her station in Moray and that a toxic culture of bullying and sexism among male colleagues forced her out of her dream job.
She reported the abuse to senior officers but said they did not want to know.
Now living in Norway, the 34-year-old mother of one’s litany of allegations against officers, who were known as the Moray Boys’ Club, was due to be heard at an employment tribunal.
But she has accepted a settlement of £431,968 instead, as compensation for loss of her career, injury and distress.
Ms MacRae told the Mail it was ‘a very
‘My intention is to move on and heal’
difficult’ decision to accept the money because she wanted to fight on both for herself and on behalf of female officers still working alongside the men she accuses of ‘inexcusable and cruel’ behaviour.
But she said: ‘I knew that Police Scotland just couldn’t afford for this employment tribunal to go ahead, in publicity terms.
‘My intention is to try to move on and do some healing, which is long overdue.’
The bullying began, she said, when she reported her partner, a fellow officer, to two chief inspectors for alleged domestic abuse. Months passed and no action was taken – yet, she claimed, her allegation was ‘common knowledge’ at the station in Forres.
A bullying campaign was launched by the officer’s friends, she said. The officer moved to another force and was never charged.
But charges were eventually brought against another officer, Scott Gallop, who sexually assaulted her.
He was allowed to continue working for almost a year after the accusation was made and retired from Police Scotland with his pension intact.
Gallop, 56, was later found guilty of the assault and given a one-year community payback order. It was the sole conviction resulting from a 15-month probe by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) into reports of bullying and misogyny at the Forres Station – despite the body passing allegations relating to seven police officers to the Crown Office.
Much to Ms MacRae’s disgust, the PIRC says it cannot make its investigation findings public.
She said: ‘If the public were aware of the carry-on that went on here, they would be asking that these officers were not serving them because they clearly wouldn’t want them.’
Yesterday Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs promised to meet Ms MacRae and apologise for the way she was treated.
He said: ‘Misogyny, sexism and discrimination of any kind is utterly unacceptable.
‘Since this investigation, Police Scotland assessed a number of matters and appropriate action was taken to address behaviour that was not in line with our values of integrity, fairness, respect and upholding human rights.’
Ms MacRae responded: ‘I can’t see how you can change your system when you leave the bad apples in the cart.’
A spokesman for the PIRC said a detailed report of its findings was submitted to the Crown Office in April 2020, adding: ‘Our reports and findings are confidential due to legal reasons.’