Senior Met officer fails in bid to have disciplinary hearing stopped
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A senior Metropolitan Police officer could face the sack over claims he accessed police information to undermine a bullying investigation into him after a disciplinary panel rejected his bid to stop proceedings.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matthew Horne threw a stress ball at a colleague, pushed them against a desk and swore at another officer while working as Deputy Chief Constable of Essex Police.
He was found to have breached force standards on three occasions between 2015 and 2016 but was allowed to keep his job.
He later became Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
The senior officer is alleged to have improperly asked for and accessed police information to help his defence during a misconduct hearing into the bullying claims, which was held in 2018.
It is an important message that complex cases must be carried through to a hearing
He is also said to have failed to “promptly and appropriately” report, challenge or take action against David Clark, who passed him the information while working as a detective chief superintendent of City of London Police.
Mr Horne is accused of breaching force standards for integrity, discreditable conduct, challenging or reporting improper conduct and confidentiality.
The Crown Prosecution Service did not prosecute him over the claims.
Mr Clark was placed on the police barred list after a disciplinary panel found he passed on the information.
A disciplinary panel threw out Mr Horne’s application to stay proceedings on Wednesday morning, the third day of a misconduct hearing into the allegations.
His lawyer Ben Myers KC argued that holding a hearing was unfair because his client had initially been treated as a witness in the case.
He said: “Until June 2018 there is no suggestion that there was a basis for an investigation into Mr Horne.”
The barrister also said “failings” in the disclosure of evidence to the defence team made the hearing unfair.
Chair of the panel Rachel Crasnow KC said: “Overall, we do not find the delay amounts to such unfairness in itself that we would take the exceptional step of delaying or halting these proceedings.
“It is an important message that complex cases must be carried through to a hearing.”
She also said the officer would have become a suspect “in any event”.
The chair added: “We cannot find unfairness per se meaning the current proceedings should exceptionally be halted. We cannot say that the disclosure process back at the time caused serious prejudice.”
The hearing, which is being held at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Oxford, continues.
