The secrecy move by the Scottish Police Authority, under their new chair of ex MSP & former Health Minister Susan Deacon – comes as three senior Police officers - including current Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone – submitted their applications to be considered for the £216,549 a year role as Chief Constable of Police Scotland.
Material in relation to new complaints made against DCC Iain Livingstone was sought from the Scottish Police Authority in February of this year, after information was received with regards to further serious complaints made against Police Scotland’s current ‘interim’ Chief Constable.
However, the SPA under Susan Deacon deliberately delayed releasing their response to the Freedom of Information request – by a number of months, as members of the Scottish Police Federation and Scottish Government ministers bolstered DCC Livingstone’s position as front runner for the top job – despite the grim details of a case involving 5 allegations of serious sexual assault which were dismissed by a tribunal composed of Livingstone’s male cop colleagues.
The Scottish Police Authority were asked to provide details of :
-
The numbers of complaints, subject of complaints, and identities (not name, but by rank, status as Police Officer, civilian employee, member of the public or other)
-
Who have made complaints (and the numbers of complaints) against current DCC Iain Livingstone from 1 April 2013 to the date of this FOI request
-
The status, and outcomes of these complaints.
It should be noted Information in relation to a number of these complaints, has recently been shared with MSPs, and the media.
However, and some time after discussions over the Freedom of Information request had taken place, inside & outside the SPA - the Scottish Police Authority responded to the FOI request four months late, in early June - denying access to all of the information sought in relation to DCC Livingstone.
The Scottish Police Authority stated in it’s letter of response, dated 8 June 201:
The SPA considers that this request constitutes personal data of a third party and is, therefore, exempt in terms of Section 38 (1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Furthermore this information is exempt under Section 34 (3)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Investigations by Scottish public authorities and proceedings arising out of such investigations.
Both are absolute exemptions and as such no public interest test has been applied.
A request for review has been lodged, and material also sent to the Scottish Information Commissioner with regards to the SPA’s refusal to disclose the information.
The Scottish Police Authority’s eagerness to conceal information in relation to a senior Police Officer - who has been previously accused of 5 allegations of serious sexual assault, and has faced further complaints including an ‘interaction’ with another officer - raises questions about the impartiality of the recruitment round to appoint a new Chief Constable to Scotland’s crisis hit single Police service.
With reference to the five allegations of serious sexual assault, Iain Livingstone was cleared of sexual impropriety or intent – by a tribunal headed by a male top cop colleague – Assistant Chief Constable John McLean.
The former lawyer and Raith Rovers footballer had been suspended for 17 months after the WPC claimed she had been sexually assaulted during the party.
A qualified lawyer and member of the Law society of Scotland, Mr Livingstone switched careers in 1992, joining Lothian and Borders Police.
In just 10 years, Livingstone – who had also once played for Raith Rovers - had clearly been fast tracked, reaching the rank of superintendent.
At the time of the allegations and ‘internal’ investigation by his Police colleagues, Livingstone was not prosecuted by the Crown Office over the claims.
Instead, Livingstone admitted a less serious allegation about being in the woman's room overnight and falling asleep.
It should be noted that during the time of the investigation & tribunal, handled by Police, the Lord Advocate was Colin Boyd, Baron Boyd of Duncansby – now a judge in the Court of Session, and the Solicitor General was Elish Angiolini – recently appointed by Nicola Sturgeon a Scottish Minister to investigate how complaints are handled against Police in Scotland.
Asked about the sexual assault allegations during a recent BBC Scotland documentary, DCC Iain Livingstone said he “fell asleep in the wrong place and that was wrong”.
Although he admitted that he 'shouldn't have done that', he insisted that he still has the right attributes for the job.
During the BBC Scotland documentary - PoliceScotland A Force In Crisis, investigative journalist Sam Poling asked Mr Livingstone about the 'allegations of sexual assault' and about him being 'bumped down from superintendent to constable and suspended'.
Quotes from DCC Livingstone’s responses when questioned about the allegations of sexual assault reveal the following remarks by the Police Officer:
Mr Livingstone said: “There was a set of circumstances in 2000 whereby at a social event at Tulliallan, at a training event I had too much to drink.”
“I fell asleep in the wrong place and that was wrong and I shouldn't have done that, and clearly I accept that.”
'I was suspended, I spent time off work. There was a hearing convened where I did accept I fell asleep.I was cleared of any sexual impropriety.”
'I was cleared of any level of sexual intent and at that hearing, initially, I was then demoted from superintendent to constable. I immediately appealed against that and I was reinstated.”
MSPs at the Scottish Parliament also questioned his suitability for the job after his response to the claims in a BBC documentary this week - saying only that he 'fell asleep in the wrong place and that was all'.
However, Livingstone’s application for the top job – which appears to be backed by Scottish Ministers, and the Scottish Police Federation has been called into question after a former Assistant Chief Constable said Livingstone should not get the top job.
COPS TURN ON THEIR OWN: Scottish Police Federation boss launches twitter attack on ex colleague:
Following criticisms by former Assistant Chief Constable Angela Wilson - of Iain Livingstone’s bid to become Chief Constable, Calum Steele – General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) launched a highly personalised attack on his female former colleague - on the twitter social media platform.
The Sunday Mail reported that Calum Steele – a Police Constable with an honorary rank as Chief Inspector due to his Police Federation duties - also branded ex ACC Wilson “useless” and a “buffoon” and wrongly claimed in tweets that a corruption inquiry in her former force Tayside “extended” to her.
Steele is general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) who have 18,500 members and represent 98 per cent of police officers.
Steele posted a string of six tweets last week after Wilson spoke out on the prospect of DCC Iain Livingstone gaining the top job as Chief Constable of Police Scotland.
The first of Calum Steele’s tweets said she was “one of the most incompetent imbeciles ever to have held rank in the police service”.
It claimed she was continuing “a smear on one of the very best”, adding: “You really need to ask – who is driving this?”
He went on to say that Wilson had served in Thames Valley Police as did Claire Gormley, the wife of Phil Gormley who quit as head of Police Scotland in February following bullying allegations against him.
Steele added: “AW [Angela Wilson] and the Gormleys have an axe to grind. It’s frankly pathetic.”
He also described Livingstone as “one of the most talented, able, skilled and resilient police officers”.
Scottish Tories justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: “Mr Steele has a position of responsibility and should probably have thought more carefully before embarking on this chain of tweets.
“The result of this is now a potential legal case which will drag the force and its associated bodies through the mud at a time it never needed it less.”
Angela Wilson subsequently lodged a formal complaint with Police Scotland and the SPF.
It was then reported in the Sunday Mail newspaper that - as a result of the complaint raised by ex ACC Wilson, Constable Calum Steele was found guilty of posting “inappropriate and offensive” online comments about a female ex-police chief.
Upholding the complaint, Chief Inspector Jacqui Campbell, of the Professional Standards Department (PSD), ruled the comments were “inappropriate and offensive” and that Wilson was “never investigated for corruption”.
Steele claimed to be off duty when he launched the Twitter tirade on May 3 but the Professional Standards Department probe discovered that he was working.
Campbell said: “The record revealed Constable Steele’s duty for that date was 0900 to 1700 hours, therefore, at the time the tweets were posted he was on duty.”
Campbell has issued Wilson a “sincere apology for the undoubted upset Constable Steele’s actions have caused”.
But Steele – who heads the federation representing 98 per cent of Police Scotland officers – “makes no apology” and refuses to delete the messages.
Campbell said: “We have asked Constable Steele to remove the relevant tweets from his Twitter account. Unfortunately, it is his own personal Twitter account and, as such, we are unable to order him to remove or delete them.”
Despite Steele’s messages being from a personal account, Campbell found “they are directly related to his role as a police officer and particularly his role as general secretary” of the SPF.
Mr Livingstone has been regarded as the favourite to replace Phil Gormley, who quit in February after being accused of bullying by colleagues.
Following Gormley’s leave of absence last year, a campaign of suspensions, bitter infighting dubbed ‘backstabbing cops’ in the media, and now scrapped criminal investigations into colleagues of the ousted Chief Constable then took place over a number of months – setting the stage for DCC Livingstone to conveniently scrap his retirement plans, and campaign, along with vested interests in the Scottish Police Federation to replace the ousted Chief Constable.
Steele, who spoke to PSD officers through a lawyer, now faces a further hearing which may result in disciplinary action. His lawyer quoted a dictionary definition of “imbeciles” as meaning “a fool” and that it was “a fair and honest comment that represents Constable Steele’s honestly-held belief”.
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: “Calum Steele should really back down, apologise and delete the offending tweets. Otherwise this row will rumble on.”
Chief Superintendent Mark Hargreaves, head of the Professional Standards Department, said: “The investigation into this complaint has concluded and as this is an internal matter it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
THE MSP & SEX CASE TOP COP: Ex cop MSP failed to declare link to sex case cop Livingstone:
In an earlier report in the Sunday Mail newspaper, it was also revealed that while DCC Iain Livingstone was giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee in January, Justice Committee member & former police officer John Finnie had failed to tell fellow MSPs he had represented Iain Livingstone when he was cleared of sexual misconduct.
At Holyrood’s justice committee in January, John Finnie quizzed Livingstone about staffing levels and said losing chief officers was one of the benefits of creating a single police force.
Scottish Labour justice spokesman Daniel Johnson said: “John is a valued colleague on the justice committee but I am alarmed that he did not see fit to declare this link with the acting chief constable.
“Police Scotland are in desperate need of scrutiny – and the public will expect such scrutiny to be conducted professionally.
“I would urge him to correct the record and to ensure he declares interests fully and promptly in future.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives added: “He also owes parliament an explanation as to why he neglected to mention this very important link.”
Finnie spent 14 years as an official for the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) – the organisation who represent police officers up to the rank of chief inspector.
And, it emerged in February of this year that during evidence given by Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee, neither Livingstone or the Justice Sub Committee Convener John Finnie declared any previous links to each other while Livingstone testified before MSPs.
A report in the Sunday Mail newspaper in February revealed Mr Finnie – previously a serving Police Officer and representative for the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) - had represented Mr Livingstone when he was cleared of the sexual misconduct claims in 2003.
The issue was reported by the Sunday Mail newspaper here:
John Finnie failed to tell MSPs he represented the acting chief constable when he was cleared of sexual misconduct.
By Mark Aitken 18 FEB 2018
John Finnie failed to tell MSPs he represented Iain Livingstone
A Green MSP is facing questions over his connection with Scotland’s acting chief constable.
Former police officer John Finnie failed to tell fellow MSPs he had represented Iain Livingstone when he was cleared of sexual misconduct.
He failed to declare the link at a meeting of Holyrood’s justice committee when Livingstone was being questioned.
Finnie spent 14 years as an official for the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) – the organisation who represent police officers up to the rank of chief inspector.
Livingstone, the frontrunner to replace Phil Gormley as Scotland’s chief constable, was acccused in 2004 of sexually assaulting a female police officer.
Livingstone admitted falling asleep in the woman’s room at the Scottish Police College in Tulliallan, Fife, after a drunken party in 2000.
Iain Livingstone was accused of sexually assaulting a female police officer in 2004
At an internal hearing, more serious allegations were dropped.
Livingstone, who was then a superintendent, was demoted to constable but won his job back on appeal. Livingstone’s appeal was backed by the SPF.
Finnie said at the time that the case had highlighted “the ease with which the system can be abused and the punitive consequences which affect not only the officer but their family”.
At Holyrood’s justice committee in January, Finnie quizzed Livingstone about staffing levels and said losing chief officers was one of the benefits of creating a single police force.
Scottish Labour justice spokesman Daniel Johnson said: “John is a valued colleague on the justice committee but I am alarmed that he did not see fit to declare this link with the acting chief constable.
“Police Scotland are in desperate need of scrutiny – and the public will expect such scrutiny to be conducted professionally.
“I would urge him to correct the record and to ensure he declares interests fully and promptly in future.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives added: “He also owes parliament an explanation as to why he neglected to mention this very important link.”
Finnie began his career with Lothian and Borders Police in 1976 and moved to Northern Constabulary three years later.
He served as a full-time officer with the SPF from 1992 to 2006.
Finnie was elected as an SNP MSP in 2011 but quit the party the following year in protest at the decision to end their long-standing opposition to Nato membership.
Finnie and the Greens failed to respond to the Sunday Mail’s calls.
SCOTLAND’S NEXT TOP COP:
There are three shortlisted candidates for the Chief Constable role at Police Scotland.
Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, whose past & current complaints records are being kept secret by the Scottish Police Authority, and Police Scotland.
A second candidate - Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Johnny Gwynne - a former head of the National Crime Agency's (NCA) Child Exploitation and Online Protection command - has also applied for the job.
Gwynne, a former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer also previously held the post of former deputy director-general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency – which was absorbed into Police Scotland in 2014.
The third candidate is Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable Bill Skelly, who joined Devon and Cornwall Police from Police Scotland as Deputy Chief Constable in 2013 and was appointed as chief Constable of the force last year.
The shortlisted candidates will undergo a selection process including two panel interviews, chaired by the Scottish Police Authority’s own boss Susan Deacon.
And the selection panel will also include SPA board member Mary Pitcaithly, NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray, Professor Lorne Crerar, - chairman of legal firm Harper MacLeod; and National Crime Agency Director General Lynne Owens.
Gill Imery – the current Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland will also act as an ‘advisor’ to the team.
According to the job information pack: "Shortlisted candidates will be invited to participate in a psychometric and personality profile exercise, an Assessment Centre, and an interview with the Selection Panel."The assessment centre will include a scenario exercise and a mock media interview.
Final interviews of the three candidates are expected to take place on 13 and 14 August.
A report on the allegations of sexual assault against Iain Livingstone by a female Police Officer, allegations which were dismissed by a tribunal headed by male Police Officer colleagues of Livingstone was reported earlier by DOI here: TOP COP SECRETS: Transparency lacking at Police Scotland as spy scandal cops refuse to disclose files on complaints & historical sexual assault case details involving Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone
wow what a read! PoliceScotland = Scotland's mafia
ReplyDeletePerhaps your readers may be interested in the following.Remarkable similarities in the profiling to certain persons named in your report don't you agree?
ReplyDeletehttps://sapac.umich.edu/article/196
A Study on Sexual Assault:
A study compared complex relationships among sexual attitudes and experiences, substance abuse patterns, and child abuse histories in college men. The comprehensive survey that was implemented measured risk factors found in the literature to be associated with male sexual aggression. In terms of the results, most of the hypothesized risk factors were predictive of sexual aggression, including negative gender-based attitudes, heavy alcohol use, and pornography consumption. Few men acknowledged using physical force to obtain sex, whereas more men acknowledged some form of sexual coercion. This included pressuring women and saying things they did not mean to obtain sex, using alcohol to obtain sex, and having sex with a woman even when she wanted to stop. A few men reported some likelihood of raping if they could be sure of not getting caught. (Carr and Van Deusen, 2004).
Also, a pattern of alcohol-related sexual coercion emerged. Fifteen percent of the men acknowledged using some form of alcohol-related sexual coercion. Thirty five percent of the men reported that their friends approved of getting a woman drunk to have sex with her and 20% acknowledged having friends who have gotten a woman drunk or high to have sex. (Carr and Van Deusen, 2004).
Pornography consumption was common among the men in the sample and may further add to the risk of sexual aggression. Specific violent or rape-theme content of the pornography has been associated with propensity to rape and pro-rape attitudes in laboratory analogues, as well as from self-reports of men who have admitted raping. (Carr and Van Deusen, 2004).
The patterns of sexual coercion, aggression, and rape-prone attitudes found in this study are very similar to patterns reported by other researchers and further strengthens our understanding of factors that may contribute to why a subset of college men rape. (Carr and Van Deusen, 2004).
Peer pressure to have sex and alcohol-related sexual coercion emerged as important factors in the social milieu at the campus surveyed. (Carr and Van Deusen, 2004).
The shortlisted candidates will undergo a selection process including two panel interviews, chaired by the Scottish Police Authority’s own boss Susan Deacon.
ReplyDeleteAnd the selection panel will also include SPA board member Mary Pitcaithly, NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray, Professor Lorne Crerar, - chairman of legal firm Harper MacLeod; and National Crime Agency Director General Lynne Owens.
HAHAHAHA
wonder what dirty secrets each of these people have they will be shaking in their shoes when the interviews with too drunk and fell asleep in a room take place
I see from your earlier report that an EU Justice Report concluded that the Scots Justice System is the most expensive and has poorest regulation in Europe.
ReplyDeleteNo surprise then that senior police ask for, and get, salaries as £216,549 a year - the equivalent of a senior Judge. This is outrageous.
I see the SPA predictably close all avenues to answering what is clearly a FOI regarding a matter of public interest by claiming that "Both are absolute exemptions and as such no public interest test has been applied"........How convenient.
As your excellent report points out Iain Livingstone is, purely coincidentally, a qualified lawyer and member of the Law society of Scotland and therefore one of 'the untouchables' in the eyes of all Scottish politicians.
This would be laughable if it was not so disturbing.
Not only should Mr Livingstone not be allowed within a mile of the interview room he should have long ago been demoted or dismissed.
ReplyDeleteSurprise the cops are corrupt!
ReplyDeletePolice Scotland is beginning to sound like old episodes of The Bill when he cops went out of their way to kill people so they kept their jobs!
friend resigned from PoliceScotland after ordered to falsify evidence in trial
ReplyDeleteTrial judge stayed quiet after told of manufactured answers for PF
spoke to wrong paper.knocked back and they lap up crown version
Be aware of unions who threaten members if they dont fib in court
hack obviously told union as no contact prior to phoning paper
no longer in Scotland so do what you like with this comment
to be clear is this "interaction with another officer" a new case or does it relate to the alleged sexual assault of the wpc?
ReplyDelete@ 6 July 2018 at 23:15
ReplyDeleteUsually those kinds of profiles are thrown at the public by top cops, politicians who have their own secrets to hide ... note the silence of all but one women's rape crisis group Chief - ex ACC Angela Wilson - who is to be commended for her bravery in speaking up, in the face of the vitriol, sexism & vicious anti-women agenda which clearly exists at Police Scotland and the top cops 'union' puppets.
Quite shocking other womens abuse charities have not spoken out on this power quest by a questionable top cop embroiled in allegations of sexual assault against a female officer.
Imagine how this would play out in the US if such information came out on a Police boss who wanted to be the Chief.
Just goes to show how the #MeToo campaign and women's rights groups have been shut out of Scotland, while some 'charities' dip their fingers in public cash, call for occasional reform, indulge in occasional attempts to manipulate the withdrawal of legislation & long held legal rights (corroboration) ... then when ordered to stay quiet by the Scottish Government, they do so.
@ 7 July 2018 at 11:28
The Law Society of Scotland connection plays back to time of the sexual assault allegations and what happened next, some interesting details to come out at a future date.
@ 9 July 2018 at 10:58
This is a new case, involves another officer, which the SPA are aware of ...
Article will be updated later today with further information in relation to the selection panel.
@ 8 July 2018 at 16:50
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting, would like to know more ...
"The Law Society of Scotland connection plays back to time of the sexual assault allegations and what happened next, some interesting details to come out at a future date."
ReplyDeleteNot surprising.Obviously a big effort to keep him in the job and along with John Finnie failing to mention he represented him over this case there are a lot of people involved in keeping Livingstone in a uniform.
John Finnie didn't forget to mention this.He clearly knew and concealed the facts from the Justice committee.This alone shows there is a lot going on and many involved yet to be named.
This superb blog puts the 'lamestream' media in Scotland and beyond to shame.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder people are visiting the internet for real news, backed up by facts.
been glued to your twitter feed all day and now reading your blog wow you really know how to tell it to the cops and lawyers! first time I read someone so plain speaking about the law! you really opened my eyes about crooked cops too!
ReplyDeleteNothing the Diary of Justice reports on surprises me. I expect the worst type of conduct from people who handle complaints against themselves. All self regulation is aimed at keeping complaints in house where they can be crushed to keep everything they way they want it.
ReplyDeleteI got this site from my friend who told me about this site and at the moment this time I am visiting this website
ReplyDeleteand reading very informative articles at this
time.
Got Russell Finday's riveting book "Acid Attack" out of the library.
ReplyDeleteThe control of vested interests over the Judiciary and legal profession has long been known, thanks to your blog, but the level of political, police and media complicity as outlined by Mr Findlay is truly appalling.
The blog's own coverage of the widespread cover ups and denial of any meaningful access to the Court is made plain in articles such as "FAIR COP: Police Scotland officers fabricated intelligence in order to spy on journalists & sources in CCU spying scandal - evidence from Durham Constabulary's Chief Constable to Holyrood Justice Committee" on February 27th this year.
Thank you, this is information everyone needs to know.
Excellent post. I certainly appreciate this website. Keep
ReplyDeletewriting!
Slightly off topic I know but it relates to the question of trust, or rather the absence of it by those in the know.
ReplyDeleteSurprise, surprise it concerns the conduct of the Law Society of Scotland and their chosen insurance provider Lockton, which is regularly called upon to defend itself in the American Courts against allegations of malpractice;
https://dockets.justia.com/search?parties=Lockton&cases=mostrecent&sort-by-last-update=false
Has just been fined $7 million dollars;
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2018/05/03/488026.htm
Oh, and hires ex-Marsh employees;
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2017/12/15/474330.htm
What's the odds Lockton and Marsh have shares in each other's companies?
Interesting article on calls for TV coverage of the Courts at;
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/24/cameras-british-courtroom-television-trials-grenfell-legal-aid-tommy-robinson
Of course the judiciary, legal profession and Scottish Nasty Party (and all others besides) will be against any suggestion of openness and transparency in the Courts - the stubbornly protracted response to your petition confirms that.
Perish the thought that the Scottish Public should be allowed to see daily what is done in their name and masquerades as due process.