A top Met Police boss has demanded a review into Dame Cressida Dick’s sacking, as he today took aim at Sadiq Khan over his response to the force’s Charing Cross scandal.
Met Police Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House says he has written a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel raising concerns over the handling of Dame Cressida’s shock resignation earlier this month.
He told a committee of London Assembly members today that he believes proper procedures have not been followed and that a review should take place.
Sir Stephen also revealed his ‘surprise’ at an apparent u-turn by London Mayor Sadiq Khan days before it was announced Dame Cressida would be leaving her £270,000-a-year role.
The Labour politician suddenly with withdrew his support for Dame Cressida following a damning report into police conduct at Charing Cross police station, which exposed violently racist, misogynist and homophobic messages exchanged by officers based at the central London police station.
But Sir Stephen said the apparent change of heart had come as a surprise because the Mayor had been a ‘vocal supporter’ of the Commissioner ‘only a few weeks ago’.
He also claimed that the content of the messages ‘cannot have been a surprise’ to the Mayor, because they had been under investigation for four years
Giving evidence to the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee about Dame Cressida’s sacking, Sir Stephen said: ‘I feel deeply disappointed, there’s a clear procedure in statute laid down to allow the removal of a police chief officer, it’s not been followed in this instance.
Met Police Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House (pictured left) says he has written a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel raising concerns over the handling of Dame Cressida’s shock resignation earlier this month. He told a committee of London Assembly members today that he believes proper procedures have not been followed in regards to Dame Cressida Dick’s (pictured right) departure from her role
Sir Stephen also revealed his ‘surprise’ at an apparent u-turn by London Mayor Sadiq Khan (pictured) days before it was announced Dame Cressida would be leaving her £270,000-a-year role
Met Police Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House says he has written a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel (pictured)
‘It’s not even been initiated in this instance, due process has not been followed and instead we’ve seen matters played out in the media.
‘Because of this, I’ve written to the Home Secretary to ask her to have a review carried out of the events that have taken place.’
Dame Cressida resigned in a shock move earlier this month after Mr Khan said he was not happy with her response to outrage over offensive messages exchanged by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station.
According to reports, Dame Cressida quit the force after being told by Mr Khan to sack officers at the heart of the Charing Cross station scandal – or risk facing suspension herself.
While Mr Khan categorically denies threatening the outgoing chief, Dame Cressida is said to have spoken of it in a video call last week, where she explained her departure to more than 100 officers, The Times reports.
She told them how the mayor was left furious by the revelations from Charing Cross, which exposed violently racist, misogynist and homophobic messages exchanged by officers based at the central London police station.
He was particularly angry that nine officers kept their jobs within the under-fire force, with two even having been promoted, according to the paper.
Dame Cressida is then said to have tried to spelled out how the process was an independent one carried out by the police watchdog, and the fact that officers were only charged with lower level disciplinary offences meant they couldn’t be sacked.
However, this failed to satisfy the mayor, who would swiftly then announce his lack of faith in her ability to run the Met.
Speaking about the messages, Sir Stephen told the committee: ‘The text messages and the Charing Cross case cannot have been a surprise to this mayor, Mopac (the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) have been briefed on these events and they have been under investigation for four years.
Dame Cressida Dick was urged by Sadiq Khan to sack officers at the heart of the Charing Cross station scandal – or face suspension herself, according to reports
‘Only a few weeks ago, the mayor was a vocal supporter of the commissioner in a tripartite meeting with the Home Secretary. Hence my surprise at what’s happened.
He added: ‘I feel sad for my boss that her police career and lifetime of public services ended in this way. I know that I’m not alone in feeling this.’
Dame Cressida’s resignation has since seen already-strained tensions between the force and City Hall pushed further, with some senior figures said to be concerned over what they believe to be political manoeuvring.
One told the Times: ‘You now have the politicians trying to completely run the place. And Khan has said he will oppose the next commissioner if they don’t toe the line. What happened to independent operational policing?’
It follows comments from the Met Police Federation earlier this week, which declared it has ‘no faith’ in Mr Khan after his ‘very public ousting’ of Dame Cressida, warning morale among officers had hit ‘rock bottom’.
The body representing more than 31,000 rank-and-file police officers claimed made Mr Khan’s actions have ‘undermined the professional, dedicated and incredibly difficult work of tens of thousands of hard-working and brave police officers from across the capital’.
