Ex-Cleveland Police chief constable says he is ‘sweary and unorthodox’ but denies sexual comments

A former chief constable accused of gross misconduct has told a disciplinary panel he is “sweary” and “unorthodox” but denies ever making sexual comments to colleagues.

Mike Veale, formerly of Cleveland Police, is alleged to have told a female colleague she could touch herself as they sat together in a car.

The 57-year-old is also alleged to have said the female colleague and a male senior officer were “bedfellows – metaphorically speaking or otherwise” before laughing.

A disciplinary hearing was told that Mr Veale wrote to the force’s then Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Barry Coppinger, on 16 January 2019, saying he was aware of allegations that he had made “sexualised comments” to colleagues.

In the letter, Mr Veale said he was “mortified if I have caused offence to anyone” and accepted “there may have been comments made during conversation with colleagues they may have considered inappropriate”.

He added that the letter was intended as an “apology if my actions caused anyone to be upset or offended”.

The next day he served a notice of his retirement with immediate effect, after 10 months in his post at Cleveland Police, the panel heard.

Giving evidence at the hearing in Middlesbrough, Mr Veale denied that he was apologising for making sexual comments, and said the “offence” referred to the way he was upsetting staff with his changes to the struggling force.

“The force was in crisis, I was delayering the organisation and removing two ranks,” he said.

“I was trying to eradicate the smoke-filled room decision-making, the toxic culture and the cliques. That upset many people.”

Mr Veale added: “The apology was to enable me to get on with my job without distraction.

“I was of the opinion that these were disgruntled members of staff who have made complaints.”

Asked by Dijen Basu KC, for the PCC, why he had not denied making sexual comments in the letter, Mr Veale said: “I didn’t make sexualised comments, so, no, I didn’t put it in the apology.”

Mr Basu asked Mr Veale about another line in the letter which said: “Having taken some time to reflect on how my behaviour may have been perceived (…)”

Mr Veale said: “I am a little bit sweary as a chief constable, I’m a bit unorthodox in that respect.

“I know I have sailed close to the mark because I have become animated.”

Summarising the allegations earlier in the hearing, Mr Basu said Mr Veale was in a car with a female colleague referred to as Witness B when he read out a complimentary email he had received from a local councillor.

He is alleged to have then looked at her lap and said: “Go on, you can touch yourself now.”

Mr Veale said he did not recall the conversation “because it didn’t happen”.

The second allegation states that, during a visit to Norfolk Constabulary HQ the following month, in front of other officers at a working lunch, he referred to Witnesses B and C as “bedfellows, metaphorically speaking or otherwise” and “laughed”.

Witness C said in his evidence that he had spoken to Witness B hours after Mr Veale allegedly told her to touch herself.

“I would describe her as being shocked and a little bit uncomfortable,” he said.

Witness C was then asked about the “bedfellows” comment Mr Veale was alleged to have made in the presence of Norfolk’s Chief Constable, Simon Bailey.

He said: “I took it to mean Witness B and I were engaged in an intimate relationship outside work.

“He laughed as he said it, that’s why I thought he meant it in a more suggestive way.”

Witness C said the chief made the “bedfellows” reference again that evening in the hotel bar.

“My interpretation was, again, he was saying there was more than a professional working relationship,” he said.

Witness C added that he was concerned because he and Witness B were both married to other people.

“We were all acutely aware of the damage a rumour like that could do,” he said.

“We had seen it for ourselves with other people who had been affected by false rumours going around the organisation.”

Mr Veale denied making any inappropriate comments during the lunch.

He said he had used the term “bedfellows” during a conversation in the hotel bar, and that Witness B had a “spontaneous flare-up”, telling him: “You are accusing me of having an affair with (Witness C).”

Mr Veale said he was “completely taken aback” and told everyone present to “look the term up on Google”.

Before he was chief constable of Cleveland Police, Mr Veale led a controversial inquiry into sexual allegations against late prime minister Sir Edward Heath when he was in charge of Wiltshire Police.

The hearing continues.

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