Paul Stephenson (Police Officer)

Sir Paul Robert Stephenson, QPM, was Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service from 2009 unti1 2011.

A long serving officer with Lancashire Police, he was a staff officer to Chief Constable Brian Johnson at the time of the Hillsborough Inquiry. Later he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, before succeeding Ian Blair as Commissioner.

Stephenson resigned on 17 July 2011 over the News International phone hacking scandal, when it became apparent that he had become too close to the media at a time of mounting allegations against the News of the World newspaper, whom his force was supposedly investigating. He stated that:

I have taken this decision as a consequence of the ongoing speculation and accusations relating to the Met’s links with News International at a senior level and in particular in relation to Mr Neil Wallis who as you know was arrested in connection with Operation Weeting last week.

Timeline

• 1953 - 26 September: born at Bacup, Lancashire,

• 1975: joins Lancashire police at age of 21, including with the Lancashire Underwater Search Unit.

• 1982: attends Bramshill Police Training College as a sergeant on the Special Course. With him on the same course are Hugh Orde, Peter Clarke, and other future chief police officers.

• 1982: Sergeant in Bacup.

• 1983: Inspector in Burnley.

• 1986: Chief Inspector in Colne Traffic Department.

• 1988 - February: Superintendent, sub-divisional commander in Accrington.

• 1989: appointed to Lancashire Police HQ in a research and planning post; also staff officer to Chief Constable Brian Johnson assisting with the Chief Constable in his role as policing assessor to the Taylor inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster (see below).

• early 1990s: 6 month secondment to the Royal Ulster Constabulary as a sub-divisional commander at Banbridge. Noted for meeting with nationalist leaders on their terms despite security risks. He then returns to a support post in Lancashire Police HQ.

• 1994: sub-divisional commander and then divisional commander of Preston.

• 1994 - October: Assistant Chief Constable, Merseyside Police, with overall responsibility for operational and territorial command (territorial policing according to his BBC profile), and leading the portfolio for marketing and communication.. In particular, he works on gun crime reduction, anti-corruption and counter-terrorism. (Overlaps with Bernard Hogan-Howe who became an ACC in Merseyside in 1997.)

• 1996: lead negotiations on the working relationship between police and MI5 following parliament granting powers to MI5 to look into serious and organised crime.

• 1999 - 1 May: Deputy Chief Constable, Lancashire Police with responsibility for operations and operational support, replacing Gerry O'Connell who had retired, and serving under Chief Constable Pauline Clare.

• 2002 - 25 July: Chief Constable of Lancashire, succeeding Pauline Clare. During this period he is Head of Crime Business Area / Chair of the Crime Committee, for the Association of Chief Police Officers.

• 2005 - 16 March: Deputy Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Service (appointed in February), with responsibility for Directorate of Professional Standards, Directorate of Information, Directorate of Legal Services and the Diversity Directorate.

• 2007 - March: Appointed to board of National Policing Improvement Agency.

• 2008 - 1 December: Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, following the resignation of Ian Blair as Commissioner in September 2008.

• 2009 - 28 January: Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. He is appointed as favourite of London Mayor Boris Johnson, who wanted a 'safe pair of hands'.

• 2010 - December: takes leave of absence to have a pre-cancerous tumour on his femur removed on 15 December 2010. Tim Godwin is appointed Acting Commissioner and John Yates, Acting Deputy Commissioner. Does not returns from sick leave until April 2011.

• 2011 - 17 July: announces intention to resign over his connection with Neil Wallis and the News International phone hacking scandal. Formally leaves office on 26 July 2011.

Controversies

Hillsborough

In 1989, Chief Inspector Paul Stephenson was a staff officer to Chief Constable Brian Johnson of Lancashire Police (Chief Constable: March 1983-July 1995 ). At the time Johnson was the co-assessor advising on policing matters to Sir Peter Taylor who was heading up the Hillsborough Inquiry (1989-90).).

Stephenson appears in the list of costs to assessors with the date 9 June 1989. He is also named by Bettison as a staff officer to Taylor's Panel with rank of Chief Inspector. He, himself, speaks of being scarred by having to sit through hours of video footage of the disaster as part of the review.

The Wikipedia article on Stephenson states he was party to all material submitted to and considered by the Inquiry, and that he was a close colleague of Norman Bettison, who he worked with during the Hillsborough Inquiry, when Bettison was also supporting the South Yorkshire chief constable, however, no supporting reference for these claims has been found as yet.

Damien Green arrest

During his period in office at the Metropolitan Police, the police came into heavy criticism from MPs over its handling of an operation investigating leaks from the Home Office, which had lead to the arrest of shadow immigration minister Damien Green, MP. Apparently on the day that Ian Blair resigned as Commissioner, the Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, Bob Quick, told Stephenson he was about to arrest Green; though Stephenson questioned its necessity he allowed the arrest to go ahead.

Stephenson had to face Green's colleague, London Mayor Boris Johnson in the aftermath, but he apparently impressed both Johnson and the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith with his stance that the police had to be able to investigate anyone without fear or favour. He thus remained as Johnson's favourite candidate to succeed Ian Blair.

Protests

Though not directly involved in the policing of a number of protest events during his time as Commissioner, he defended the actions of Metropolitan police officers during various controversial events. During the G20 Protests of April 2009, he had to deal with numerous complaints, including the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, the assault on Nicola Fisher, incidents of uniformed police not wearing their number epaulets and accusations of heavy handed policing including the kettling tactic. This lead to him requesting a review of policing of the event to be carried out by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary Denis O'Connor.

When the student protests against tuition fees on 10 November 2010 turned violent and attacked Conservative Party HQ at Milbank, Stephenson had to again apologise and ordered further reviews into policing, saying 'It is an embarrassment for London and for us.' He would also attack the rioters as 'thuggish, loutish behaviour by criminals', and that his force had not planned properly for the events. However, as with the G20 protests the previous year, police came under criticism for misbehaviour including pushing over someone in a wheelchair, officers were still not wearing their numbers, and the kettling of schoolchildren in the freezing cold.

The student protests also saw another moment of embarrassment for Stephenson, when protestors attacked a car carrying Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Stephenson apparently considered resigning over this, though he said that armed officers guarding the royal car had 'shown great restraint' in not firing on the protestors.

Racism in the Metropolitan Police: Tariq Ghaffur & Ali Dizaei cases

During his tenure to significant claims of racism within the senior levels of the Metropolitan police came to a head. In August 2008, while Stephenson was still Deputy, Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur initiated an employment tribunal over claims of racial discrimination by Commissioner Ian Blair and DAC Richard Bryant. As part of this he held a press conference, airing his grievance in public. Stephenson lead the Metropolitan Police response with the statement: 'It is long past time we shut up, stop making public statements about a private dispute and get on with the job we are paid to do', and that the Met would 'robustly challenge' Ghaffur's claims.

Ghaffur in turn would say that he felt threatened by the animosity Stephenson had generated and had to consider his position in the MPS. He would also hire bodyguards in response to 'receiving death threats from other officers'.

In 2008, Stephenson would face another issue tied up with allegations of racism, when Commander Ali Dizaei commenced an employment tribunal against Blair, Stephenson and others, claiming he had been targeted for investigation by anti-corruption officers over his outspoken criticism of their record on race. The saga of Dizaei would last beyond Stephenson's tenure as Commissioner, but see Dizaei convicted of misconduct in a public office, imprisoned and dismissed from the police, those charges being overturned resulting with his release and re-instating as a Met Commander, and then re-imprisoned for another conviction.

Phone hacking scandal & resignation

Stephenson's tenure as Commissioner would end over his connection to the News International phone hacking affair, in particular his relationship with former News of the World editor Neil Wallis.

Stephenson sets out his connections with Wallis in his evidence before the Leveson Inquiry in the media. According to him, he first meets Wallis in September 2006, when as Deputy Commissioner he had a role to play engaging with media representatives. During 2006 and 2010, he would met with Wallis eight separate times, more than with any other journalist; some of these meetings were in the company of Dick Fedorcio, the MPS's Director of Public Affairs, though a number were just Stephenson and Wallis; there were other meals with senior editors in the News International group, including two lunches with Rebecka Brooks.

In 2009 Stephenson discusses with Dick Federico the long term absence on health grounds of Dick Federico's deputy Chris Webb. The MPS then hires Wallis through his front company Chamy Media as a media consultant from October 2009 until September 2010, when it was terminated by mutual contract.

Stephenson claims to have played no part in the procurement process, and that Wallis was neither employed as personal assistant to Stephenson and nor did he provide significant personal advice directly to Stephenson. Wallis's name had not been linked to phone hacking allegations at that point. Of the phone hacking scandal, Stephenson told Leveson:

I had no reason at that time to doubt the efficacy of the original phone hacking investigation. I had played no role in that operation and had no detailed knowledge of it.

He also pointed out that Wallis's previous boss at News of the World, Andy Coulson, had also just been appointed as a Head of Communications to Prime Minister David Cameron. The Metropolitan Police would also host a dinner at their New Scotland Yard offices following Coulson's No.10 appointment, the purpose of which is for police to get to know Coulson and his assistant Ed Llewellyn; Neil Wallis attends this event.

It would later emerge that AC John Yates was a personal friend of Wallis, and that in 2011 alone, ten members of the Directorate of Public Affairs had previously worked at News International. On 29 January 2009, Yates, the Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, who had responsibility for the phone-hacking investigation, passes on the CV of Neil Wallis' daughter Amy to the Director of Human Resources of the Metropolitan Police, recommending her for a job. The cover note from Yates, says:

You probably know that Neil (Wallis) has been a great friend (and occasional critic) of the Met in past years and has been a close advisor to Paul (Stephenson) on stuff/tactics in respect of the new commissionership.

After having become Commissioner, and hearing a Radio 4 programme of 9 July 2009 about phone hacking allegations, Stephenson said he talked to AC John Yates, and asks him to look into the issues raised by the Guardian. Yates responds that no further information has come to light though he only spent a eight hours in consideration of the material.

However, the two men continue to have discussions as Guardian presses its case, Yates maintaining his reassurance there was nothing new warranting the reopening of investigations and investment of resources it would require. New allegations would emerge in a New York Times article of 1 September 2010, to which Yates responds by creating Operation Varec to investigate; these allegations are referred to the Crown Prosecution Service in December 2010 who said insufficient evidence for prosecution. The New York Times article would also quote MPS investigators as saying the close relationship with the News of the World fed into a reluctance to conduct a wider inquiry.

On 10 December 2010, Stephenson is briefed by Yates that there is nothing further to investigate in the hacking scandal, upon which Stephenson visits the Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger, and unsuccessfully seeks to persuade him to drop its investigation. That evening he dines with Fedorico, Yates and Wallis in a private dinner.

Stephenson would confirm he had several dinners with Wallis since the emergence of the phone-hacking allegations. As Stephenson leaves on ill-health at the end of the year, the responsibility for the ongoing investigation passes to the two officers immediately under him, Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin and AC John Yates.

Stephenson claim is that he first learns that Wallis is a suspect in Operation Weeting, the investigation into phone hacking, when he returns from sick leave in April 2011. However, he is only told Wallis was being arrested on the day of arrest, 14 July 2011, and discusses it only with the Metropolitan Police Authority. He also claimed that he only became aware of the further allegations that Neil Wallis' daughter had been procured a position at the Metropolitan Police being employed the weekend of his resignation. He would later tell the Leveson Inquiry that he had resisted Kit Malthouse, the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, who wanted to curb resources being devoted to Operation Weeting.

While recovering from his 2010 leg operation Stephenson had accepted a gift of £12,000 in free hospitality by a stay at Champneys, a health spa. According to Stphenson, this was at the invitation of its Managing Director and owner, Steven Purdew in January 2011, who is also the father-in-law of Stephenson's daughter, and that he had accepted the gift in a personal capacity, rather than a professional one. There was no other procurement history between the MPS and Champneys. However, it would emerge in the press that Neil Wallis was a public relations consultant for Champneys at the time. Stephenson's claim to Leveson was that Wallis played no part in the arrangements and he did not discuss his arrangement with Champneys with Wallis. He only became aware subsequently there was a connection between Wallis and Champneys on 16 July 2011 following a media inquiry about it.

Throughout the first half of 2011 pressure is applied to the Metropolitan Police as further allegations emerge about the illegal activities of the News International, and particular the News of the World newspaper, regarding phone and email hacking. Under Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, a number of investigations are launched, including Operation Weeting, Tuleta and Elveden.

When allegations emerged in July 2011 that News of the World had paid police officers, Stephenson's response includes referring the force's internal investigation to the IPCC, and vows to root out corruption. In what would be one of his last acts, he appoints Elizabeth Filkin to conduct a report into the relationship between the MPS and the press,

Nevertheless, the extent of his contacts with Neil Wallis causes questions over his integrity to be made. He is summoned by London Mayor Boris Johnson to give account and Home Secretary Theresa May also writes to him for an explanation. In the face of this pressure and given the public outcry over News of The World hacking of murdered teenagers Milly Dowler's phone, Stephenson resigns as Commissioner on 17 July 2011. Though he defends his actions, he gives the reason as resigning as:

...ongoing speculation and accusations relating to the Met’s links with News International at a senior level and in particular in relation to Mr Neil Wallis.

John Yates would resign the following day. The Metropolitan Police's Deputy Commissioner, Tim Godwin, was made Acting Commissioner in Stephenson's place until the appointment of Bernard Hogan-Howe.

The Metropolitan Police Authority on the 18 July 2011 asks the Independent Police Complaints Commission to look into four senior officers over the handling of the MPS investigation into phone hacking scandal. Stephenson's conduct is to be examined as the officer with overall responsibility for the investigation. The other officers are Peter Clarke, Andy Hayman and John Yates. The IPCC report, a month later, would find that Stephenson had not been involved in misconduct because one of his officers (Yates) may have carried out a poor investigation; any further judgment it left to the Leveson Inquiry.

On 19 July 2011, Stephenson, Fedorcio and Yates are called before the Home Affairs Committee to answer questions about phone hacking inquiry and the hiring of Wallis. The committees reserve their criticism for Fedorcio and Yates, saying in particular that Stephenson had given too much discretion to the latter. Stephenson would also appear before the Leveson Inquiry on 5 March 2012,

In July 2014 Andy Coulson was convicted of phone hacking, though his boss, Rebecka Brooks (she was former head of the Murdoch controlled News International which owned the News of the World) was acquitted. Shortly after it was announced that Neil Wallis and his fellow editor at News of the World, Jules Stenson would be charged with conspiracy to hack phones. The following day, it was revealed in a book by Damian McBride, a former Labour spin-doctor and No.10 advisor, that Brooks, then probably the most powerful person in British media had personally lobbied for the appointment of Stephenson as Commissioner.

Education & Awards

• Fearns County Secondary School,
• Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School where he was head boy. in 1970/71.
• Bramshill Police College, Special Course, 1982.
• Honorary Fellow, University of Central Lancashire, 2007.
• Queen's Police Medal, May 2000.
• Knighted, 2008.
• Gives the second John Creaney Memorial Lecture on 4 May 2011, for the Policy Exchange, where he warns about the threat of international terrorism.

Affiliations & Directorships

• Affiliated to the Centre of Problem Oriented Policing (USA).
• A director of the Crimestoppers Trust from 2 November 2011.
• A director of Impact Leadership Ltd from 24 May 2012.
• Non-Executive Director of Restore PLC from 10 April 2012 to 22 May 2014.

He and his wife Lynda Margaret Stephenson are owners of Sir Paul Stephenson Ltd, company number 07984693, registered to Hodder Bank, Newton In Bowland, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 3DY. Paul Stephenson is listed as the only director of this company, which was founded on 9 March 2012.

Personal

Born and raised in Bacup, Lancashire, Stephenson is the son of a butcher. After school he worked at the Bacup Shoe Factory of E. Sutton & Son, Stacksteads, as a shoe salesman, becoming a trainee manager by the age of 20. However, he would then follow his soldier brother into the police. Nick-named "Rusty" by colleagues in the MPS over his tan, something he gained from his early days in Lancashire police.

He resides in the Rossendale area of Lancashire, and continued to live there once appointed to the Metropolitan Police, commuting home at weekends.

By his wife Lynda Stephenson he has three children. In August 2009, his daughter Rebecca's partner, Harry Wilmer, with whom she lived in Chortlon-cum-Hardy, was killed in a bike accident.

A colleague of his from the Lancashire underwater search team was Ch.Supt. Neil Smith who became police commander of Bunley, Pendle and Rossendale; both men were swimmers who competed internationally.

External Resources

• Guardian Sir Paul Stephenson