Yorkshire chief constable to face gross misconduct case

Chief who promised a sea-change at storm-hit force

Grahame Maxwell and his deputy Adam Briggs, the two most senior officers at North Yorkshire Police, are alleged to have unfairly helped family members who hoped to join the force as student officers.

Mr Maxwell, who has run the force since 2007 and could be dismissed if found guilty, is understood to be the first UK chief constable in 35 years to face a disciplinary hearing.

It is likely he will deny the allegations and the Yorkshire Post understands the process may take up to a year.

Mr Briggs, who is charged with a lesser offence of misconduct, could be punished with a final warning if his guilt is proven.

Neither officer has been suspended, although both have already had their conduct questioned this year during unrelated inquiries. The force said last night it was "business as usual".

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) confirmed that Mr Maxwell would remain its spokesman on finance and resource issues affecting police forces across England and Wales.

The disciplinary action follows an investigation managed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into North Yorkshire's farcical officer recruitment campaign in February, which hit problems when a phone line crashed as thousands of applicants tried to get through.

Some 350,000 calls were made to the force in a week but it is alleged only a small number of applicants, including relatives of Mr Maxwell and Mr Briggs, were called back.

Two police staff members have been sacked and a police constable has received a final written warning following disciplinary hearings into the exercise.

The IPCC said it was claimed the staff members had "used their position to circumvent the recruitment process for their own gain" while the police officer had allowed this to happen. North Yorkshire Police confirmed the sanctions but said neither Mr Maxwell nor Mr Briggs would comment.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police Authority, which has the power to suspend the officers, said it would be inappropriate to comment until the disciplinary processes had concluded.

The authority is waiting to receive a report from Durham Chief Constable Jon Stoddart, who was asked by the IPCC to investigate unrelated claims that Mr Maxwell tried to help Mr Briggs's wife to obtain a job at North Yorkshire.

Mr Briggs was told in September that he would not face disciplinary action after it was found he had attempted to view a computer disk which contained "potentially offensive" images.

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett went to the High Court in 2004 to force Humberside Police Authority to suspend its then chief constable David Woodward after his force was criticised for intelligence failures in its dealings with Soham murderer Ian Huntley.

But North Yorkshire Police Authority's decision not to suspend Mr Maxwell and Mr Briggs is supported by North Yorkshire Tory MPs Robert Goodwill and Anne McIntosh.

Mr Goodwill said: "The recruitment campaign was a complete fiasco but, given that this particular charge doesn't relate to operational matters, I think probably the right decision has been made."

Miss McIntosh said: "It is obviously a cloud hanging over North Yorkshire Police, but I hope that the authority will look to deal with it as quickly as they can."

Recruitment drive plunged into chaos

NORTH Yorkshire Police's campaign to recruit student officers has backfired spectacularly, first landing the force's two most senior officers in disciplinary trouble and then having to be scrapped because of a lack of money.

The force hoped to bolster its frontline operations by taking on 60 officers in 2010-11 but the exercise in February descended into farce when the recruitment hotline crashed under the weight of calls from applicants.

About 350,000 calls were made to the force, but the vast majority were not received because of the technical problems which lasted for two days. It is understood that one applicant tried to call the line 5,800 times without success.

Application forms were only to be made available to the first 1,000 suitable candidates, and it is believed that the force made a list of callers who had managed to get through and should be called back. Although their names were not on the list, relatives of Mr Maxwell and Mr Briggs who wished to apply were allegedly called. It is claimed that Mr Maxwell made one of the calls himself.

Ironically, the force announced this week that it would not be recruiting any officers for the "foreseeable future" because of its "financial position".

More than 520 applications were pending when the scheme was scrapped.