Met Chief to Assess Drug Claims
Fresh controversy:
Commander Brian Paddick
Commander Brian Paddick - in charge of an experimental easing of drugs laws in south London - denies claims that he smoked drugs with a former partner.
Scotland Yard said: "The Metropolitan Police Authority is assessing the information contained in the newspaper story and will consider any other material that comes to light.
"This matter will be the subject of further discussion with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner on Monday."
The Mail on Sunday carried allegations from James Renolleau that he and Mr Paddick shared more than 100 cannabis joints at their London flat.
Partner 'shocked'
A Scotland Yard spokesman added: "If a senior police officer was found to be taking illegal substances they would be on the way to losing their job."
Mr Paddick had admitted Mr Renolleau had smoked cannabis in front of him, while denying smoking the drug himself - according to the paper.
Sir John Stevens is to review the
allegations |
Mr Renolleau told the newspaper Mr Paddick would become "giggly" after smoking marijuana.
He said: "The first time he asked to have a puff I was shocked - he was a policeman after all."
Message boards
The accusations follows controversy over remarks Mr Paddick posted on a website about anarchy and drugs.
He was grilled by Sir John Stevens and Assistant Commissioner Mike Todd over his contributions to message boards on the www.urban75.com website.
Mr Paddick was applauded for interacting with the local community but rebuked for some of the language he used, which it was felt could have undermined his authority.
As well as saying he found the concept of anarchism appealing he made several comments apparently supporting the legalisation of some drugs.
'Pleased' with drug project
The pilot project he is pioneering in Lambeth means people found with small quantities of cannabis are let off with a warning rather than being arrested and cautioned.
The aim of Mr Paddick's experiment is to concentrate police time and resources on dealers and harder drugs.
Last week he told BBC News he was "very pleased" with the success of the scheme and thought it should be allowed to continue.
TOP-LEVEL talks on the future of the Scotland Yard commander at the centre of gay sex and drugs allegations will be held today
A week after Commander Brian Paddick, who heads 800 police in Lambeth, South London, was carpeted over comments he made on a radical website about anarchism, his former lover claimed in a Sunday newspaper that he had regularly smoked cannabis.
James Renolleau, who was Mr Paddick’s partner for five years, also accused him of frequent casual gay sex encounters, visiting gay saunas and beginning an affair with him when he was on bail over alleged fraud.
Yesterday Mr Paddick, who is open about his sexuality and is piloting a liberal approach to cannabis possession in Lambeth, denied smoking cannabis, but acknowledged that he had tolerated his boyfriend’s use of the drug.
Sir John Stevens, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and Lord Harris of Haringey, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, will discuss today what to do about the allegations and Mr Paddick’s response.
In a statement yesterday the authority said that the article and any other material would be studied. Sir John and Lord Harris would then decide whether an inquiry should be held.
Scotland Yard sources said yesterday that Sir John and Lord Harris faced a dilemma. The allegations came after a relationship ended acrimoniously and the only witnesses to the alleged drug-taking appear to be the men themselves. Mr Renolleau sold his story and is reported to have left Britain.
A criminal investigation over the cannabis allegations would be carried out by Scotland Yard’s anti-corruption unit. If Mr Paddick had breached disciplinary codes, the inquiry would have to be sanctioned by the police authority. He could, for example, be accused of bringing the police into disrepute or failing to carry out his duties.
Mr Renolleau, a former cashier with Westminster Abbey, claimed that Mr Paddick had smoked cannabis hundreds of times and allowed the drug to be stored in his flat. He also claimed that the commander boasted of a promiscuous sex life before they met, including having had sex on the Gatwick Express and under a pier.
He claimed that Mr Paddick broke police rules by not telling his bosses that when they met, Mr Renolleau was on bail. Mr Renolleau was later cleared of stealing cash and keepsakes from his former partner, who was dying.
Mr Paddick denied the allegations about sex and cannabis yesterday. He said: “I have never smoked cannabis, ever.”
“I totally deny having smoked cannabis. On a couple of occasions James purchased some cannabis while we were living together and smoked it in front of me,” Paddick is reported to have said.
Paddick also admits that he failed to follow precedure and report to his superiors that Renolleau was on police bail pending a fraud investigation, which later exonorated him, when they met. The commander said that “strictly speaking” he should have followed the rules, but felt he had done nothing wrong.
The revelations appear in two tabloid Sunday newspapers, along with further allegations about the commander’s sex life.
Paddick has courted controversy by discussing his homosexuality and admitted in a website discussion that “the concept of anarchism has always appealed to me”. He instructed officers not to arrest cannabis users in the Lambeth area of London he controls earlier this year.
Last night, Scotland Yard said: “We are unable to comment on the article until we have had time to study