Sir Paul Stephenson | |
---|---|
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis | |
In office 28 January 2009 –18 July 2011 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Gordon Brown David Cameron |
Deputy | Tim Godwin |
Preceded by | Sir Ian Blair |
Succeeded by | Bernard Hogan-Howe |
Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis | |
In office 16 March 2005 –28 January 2009 | |
Leader | Sir Ian Blair |
Preceded by | Sir Ian Blair |
Succeeded by | Tim Godwin |
Personal details | |
Born | Paul Robert Stephenson 26 September 1953 Bacup,Lancashire,England |
Profession | Police officer |
Sir Paul Robert Stephenson QPM (born 26 September 1953) is a British retired police officer who was the Metropolitan Police Commissioner from 2009 to 2011.
Stephenson joined the Lancashire police in 1975 and attended the Bramshill staff training course. As a superintendent,he was closely involved in the inquiry into the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster. After serving as chief constable of Lancashire,he was promoted deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2005,acting commissioner in 2008,and finally commissioner in January 2009. In July 2011,Stephenson resigned over speculation regarding his connection with Neil Wallis,suspected of involvement in the News International phone hacking scandal.
Stephenson grew up in Bacup in the Rossendale district of east Lancashire,the son of a butcher. [1] He attended Fearns County Secondary School in Stacksteads where he excelled at swimming and went on to Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School to do his 'A' levels and became head boy. [2] [3] [4]
Stephenson originally desired a career in the footwear industry,and took up work at the Bacup Shoe Company factory in nearby Stacksteads. By the age of 20 he was made a trainee manager,but in 1975 he followed his elder brother into the police force. [5] [6]
Stephenson lives in Lancashire with his wife,Lynda,and their three children. [7]
Stephenson joined the police service in 1975,aged 21 and spent much of his early service as a constable attached to the Lancashire Underwater Search Unit. In 1982 Stephenson attended the Bramshill police training college near Hook in Hampshire as a sergeant on the Special Course at the same time as Sir Hugh Orde,Peter Clarke,Tim Brain,Paul Kernaghan,Frank Whitely,Jane Stitchbury and numerous other chief police officers. He became a sergeant in Bacup (1983),then an inspector in Burnley (1984) and a Chief Inspector in Colne Traffic Department (1986). He became a superintendent at the age of 34 in February 1988 when in Accrington as sub-divisional commander before being appointed to a Headquarters research and planning post where he also acted as staff officer to his then Chief Constable,Brian Johnson CBE,QPM,who was professional advisor to Sir Peter Taylor during the course of him undertaking the Hillsborough Inquiry (1989–1990). Stephenson was thus party to all of the material submitted to and considered by the Taylor Inquiry,albeit in a relatively junior position. He took a six-month secondment to the (former) RUC in the early 1990s as a sub-divisional commander,a posting that ended in some acrimony. He returned to Lancashire to a further Headquarters support post before being appointed in 1994 as a sub-divisional commander then divisional commander in Preston. He has also served as Assistant Chief Constable in Merseyside Police starting in 1994 until 1999 and Deputy Chief Constable in Lancashire from May 1999 under Chief Constable Pauline Clare. Stephenson succeeded Pauline Clare and was appointed as Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary in July 2002. He was appointed deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in February 2005.
In September 2008 it was announced he would become acting commissioner of the Met from 1 December,following the resignation of Sir Ian Blair. In January 2009 it was announced that he had been appointed as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. [8]
In July 2011,Stephenson's judgement was questioned after it emerged that Neil Wallis,a former executive editor of the News of the World had acted as a media consultant to the MPS in 2009 and 2010, [9] [10] [11] and also that in early 2011 Stephenson received £12,000 of free hospitality from a Champneys health spa,where Wallis was working at the time whilst Stephenson was recovering from surgery for the removal of a non-malignant tumour in his femur. [12] On 14 July 2011,Wallis was arrested by the Metropolitan Police investigating the News of the World phone hacking scandal. [1]
On 17 July,in a lengthy statement [13] in which he defended his actions,Stephenson announced his intention to resign as commissioner,saying that questions surrounding his integrity would otherwise become detrimental to the Met as a whole. The Deputy Commissioner,Tim Godwin,became Acting Commissioner [14] in the interim between Sir Paul's resignation and the appointment of his successor,Bernard Hogan-Howe. [15]
This is an excerpt from Stephenson's statement:
I have this afternoon informed the Palace, Home Secretary and the Mayor of my intention to resign as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. 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.
Stephenson was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for services to policing in the 2000 New Year Honours, [8] [16] followed in 2007 by an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. [17] He was knighted in the Queen's 2008 Birthday Honours. [18]
John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, is a former Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, having served from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northumbria Police before being appointed one of HM Inspectors of Constabulary in September 1996. He was then appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Met in 1998 until his promotion to Commissioner in 2000. He was a writer for the News of the World, for £7,000 an article, until his resignation as the hacking scandal progressed.
Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, is a British retired policeman who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest-ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.
Sir William Ian Ridley Johnston CBE QPM DL was the Chief Constable of British Transport Police. He became Chief Constable on 1 May 2001 when he succeeded David Williams QPM, who had served as Chief Constable for three and a half years.
John Yates is a former Assistant Commissioner in the London Metropolitan Police Service (2006–2011). As leader of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)'s Special Inquiry Squad, Yates was dubbed "Yates of the Yard" by the British press following his involvement in a number of cases with high media profiles. Yates came to particular prominence for heading the Cash for Honours investigation. Yates also coordinated the UK police response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, heading "Operation Bracknell", for which he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in January 2006. He resigned in July 2011 over criticism of a July 2009 review he carried out of the 2006 police investigation of the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal. He now works for the government of Bahrain advising it on reform of its security forces.
Tarique Ghaffur is a former Ugandan-born British police officer in London's Metropolitan Police Service. His last post was as Assistant Commissioner–Central Operations.
Bernard Hogan-Howe, Baron Hogan-Howe, is an English former police officer and was the head of London's Metropolitan Police as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2011 until 2017.
Sir Hugh Norman Annesley QPM is a retired Irish/British police officer. He served as Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary from June 1989 to November 1996.
Sir Colin Philip Joseph Woods was an English police officer in the London Metropolitan Police who was also the first Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, from 1979 to 1982.
Timothy John Godwin OBE QPM is a former British police officer, who served as Deputy Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service, from July 2009 until November 2011. He held the post of Acting Commissioner, following the resignation of the Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson in July 2011 and remained in post until his replacement, Bernard Hogan-Howe, was formally appointed on 12 September 2011.
Neil John Wallis is a British former newspaper editor. He is currently a media consultant and media commentator.
Andrew Christopher Hayman CBE QPM is a retired British police officer and author of The Terrorist Hunters. Hayman held the rank of Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary and Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at London's Metropolitan Police, the highest-ranking officer responsible for counter-terrorism in the United Kingdom. Hayman was directly responsible for the investigation into the 7 July 2005 London bombings. He has also spoken for the Association of Chief Police Officers, first on drugs policy, and later on counter-terrorism.
Employees of the now-defunct newspaper News of the World engaged in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories.
Operation Weeting was a British police investigation that commenced on 26 January 2011, under the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of phone hacking in the News of the World phone hacking affair. The operation was conducted alongside Operation Elveden, an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to the police by those involved with phone hacking, and Operation Tuleta, an investigation into alleged computer hacking for the News of the World. All three operations are led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks within the Specialist Crime Directorate.
Susan Penelope Akers CBE QPM is a retired Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the British Metropolitan Police Service.
The News Corporation scandal involves phone, voicemail, and computer hacking that were allegedly committed over a number of years. The scandal began in the United Kingdom, where the News International phone hacking scandal has to date resulted in the closure of the News of the World newspaper and the resignation of a number of senior members of the Metropolitan Police force.
The news media phone hacking scandal is a controversy over illegal acquisition of confidential information by news media organizations that reportedly occurred in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia between 1995 and 2011. This article includes reference lists for various topics relating to that scandal.
This article provides a narrative beginning in 1999 of investigations by the Metropolitan Police Service (Met) of Greater London into the illegal acquisition of confidential information by agents in collaboration with the news media that is commonly referred to as the phone hacking scandal. The article discusses seven phases of investigations by the Met and several investigations of the Met itself, including critiques and responses regarding the Met's performance. Separate articles provide an overview of the scandal and a comprehensive set of reference lists with detailed background information.
Ian Andrew McPherson is a retired British police officer who is now a management consultant.
Alfred Henry Hitchcock was a British police officer.