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UK: Met Police officers smoked cannabis every day while Cressida Dick was praising his work Gwyn Wright My London Friday 02 Sep 2022 The Met Police officer was nicknamed ‘sacker’ for taking a tough approach to rogue officers when he presided over disciplinary hearings, but could now be booted out of the force himself. The top cop is also accused of failing to give a drug sample after suspicions arose he may have used cannabis on July 21, 2020 and lied about why he failed to provide one. The officer claimed he had taken cannabidiol, a form of medical cannabis, to treat facial palsy, which an earlier hearing was told he "knew to be untrue." His lawyer John Beggs QC said on Friday (September 2) he had been taking the medical cannabis "from Holland and Barrett and the like". The officer, who was tasked with setting up the force's anti-drug strategy, is also accused of using LSD and magic mushrooms (Image: RFStock / Getty Images) The third allegation states: "It is alleged that on July 21, 2020 Commander Bennett provided an explanation for refusing to provide a sample for a with cause drugs test that he knew to be untrue and that his behaviour brings discredit upon the police service and undermines confidence in it." He is accused of breaching the force’s standards for discreditable conduct, honesty and integrity and orders and instructions. However, a disciplinary hearing at the Met's Empress State Building in West Brompton, west London, heard the case against him could be thrown out because the key witness - a nurse who was his lodger for seven weeks and is planning on writing a book about the shocking claims - has not turned up to give evidence. The nurse she said she was unwell when the hearing began on Tuesday, August 30 and was "resting" today. Her illness was not said to be a long-term condition. Mr Beggs QC, Bennett's lawyer, said the fair thing to do would have been to adjourn the hearing again but now wants the case dismissed because the officer was being treated unfairly, accusing the force of seeking to obtain an unfair advantage to get a conviction. He added: "This man has a long and distinguished career in the force. This is not a man, to use a topical example, who is a junior officer accused of sending some offensive WhatsApps. This is an officer who was regularly praised by the most senior officers in this force. His high performance was being commented in the weeks he was allegedly smoking cannabis on a daily basis. "This was a period when his high performance was so impressive that the then Commissioner [Cressida Dick] was passing on her thanks. It almost seems to be a performance-enhancing drug given the comments by Cressida Dick and others." Mr Beggs also said a key witness backing up the force's allegations intends to write a book about the saga. He told the hearing: "The [witness’s] book is going to be a better seller with certain bits of spice added to it. She has a distinct and at times sarcastic and nasty antipathy to my client." He added: "Not a soul ever smelt the slightest hint of cannabis in that period. He denies ever taking cannabis or any controlled drug. Had he taken a drug test on July 21 2020, he might well have tested positive for an entirely innocent reason. He recognises he should have taken the drugs test. "He had been taking cannabis tinctures and oils from Holland and Barrett and the like. He was taking them because he had a very unpleasant medical condition. The oils alleviate the deeply unpleasant and embarrassing symptoms on the face and can give false positive results. He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1976 when Harold Wilson was handing over to James Callaghan. He deserves total fairness from this panel." The officer's lawyer said he had been taking cannabis oils 'from Holland and Barrett and the like' (Image: Mike Kemp/Getty Images) The top lawyer said more than a year’s worth of WhatsApp messages from December 2019 to February 2021, which the force are said to be relying on as evidence, are missing. The messages are said to also involve someone called "Mario", the court heard. He also said it was unjust that she (the nurse) is the one being relied upon to the disclose messages, asking “the complainant to become the disclosure officer.” He added it would be unfair to rely on her evidence as hearsay evidence, which would not require her to turn up to the hearing, because he could not then cross-examine her. According to the lawyer, it was also odd that the force did not want to "fast track" the case - meaning there was little or no dispute about the facts - but were now effectively seeking to go ahead with the case without the main witness, which would put the tribunal in a similar position to if it had been fast-tracked originally. He even compared the Met’s handling the case to that of Liam Allan, a criminology graduate who was accused of rape before his case was dropped three days before trial. The Met had to apologise to him for its handling of the case following a review. The lawyer called for a similar review to be carried out into this case. Commander Bennett wrote the force’s anti-drugs strategy for 2017 to 2021 named 'Dealing with the Impact of Drugs on Communities'. It set out the force’s plans to 'raise awareness' about the dangers of drug use, but it is not clear whether a new strategy is now in place. He was suspended in July 2020 on full pay when the allegations came to light. Freedom of information requests show that between 2010 and 2012, he presided over 74 misconduct hearings involving 90 officers and sacked 56 cops. Bennett also chaired 69 of those hearings and booted two cops out of the force for drug misuse during that time. When he was suspended he was a lead for the force on criminal justice, which includes managing prosecutions. He served in a number of high-profile roles including operations to tackle moped gangs in London and planning for the 2012 Olympics. He chaired the panel who sacked PC Simon Harwood, the Met police officer who struck and pushed Ian Tomlinson as he walked away from riot officers on the fringe of the G20 protests in London. He also headed a misconduct panel which dismissed misconduct charges in 2019 against five officers involved in an incident that led to the death of black musician Sean Rigg. His sister attended the public gallery today. If the three-person panel find him guilty of gross misconduct, he will be barred from serving in the force for the rest of his life and his pension could be cut. The tribunal, which is being chaired by Akbar Khan, continues. https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/met-police-officers-smoked-cannabis-24917782
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