Met commander attacks his misconduct hearing

An officer in charge of drawing up the Met’s anti-drugs strategy has attempted to get the panel on his misconduct hearing for taking magic mushrooms, cannabis and LSD thrown out.

Commander Julian Bennett has been accused of gross misconduct for taking drugs between February 2019 and July 2020 while off duty – and refusing to take a drug test.

Yesterday his defence lawyer, John Beggs KC, called the Metropolitan Police “irrational” in their investigation and said they did not disclose hundreds of Whatsapp messages from a key witness for months. The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.