Bedfordshire Police: Nick Lyall's affair cost 'trust' of colleagues

The misconduct panel heard former Supt Nick Lyall also engaged in sexualised text messaging on a work phone

A former police superintendent "lost the trust and confidence" of his force by repeatedly lying to senior officers about a relationship with a colleague, a misconduct panel ruled.

Ex-Supt Nick Lyall resigned from Bedfordshire Police before his misconduct hearing.

The panel said the seriousness of his actions meant he would have been dismissed had he remained in his role.

In its verdict the panel said Mr Lyall was "highly culpable".

Mr Lyall initially denied having an affair with a member of police staff in a meeting with senior colleagues who had expressed concerns it was an abuse of his rank and influence.

The panel said he "doubled down" by repeating the lies, before he admitted to the relationship and claimed he had lied because he panicked.

While the relationship was not deemed inappropriate, the hearing ruled his lies breached standards of behaviour which amounted to gross misconduct.

'Wiped phone'

The hearing was also told he had engaged in sexualised text messaging on his work phone, which he had wiped clean.

This was also found to amount to gross misconduct.

Mr Lyall did not attend the virtual hearing, but in mitigation the panel was told he had been experiencing stress in his personal life.

Reaching its conclusion, the panel said: "The most striking feature of this case is the loss of trust and confidence the former superintendent created among his colleagues.

"Superintendents run the police service and are expected to lead by example. The panel observes that this is in stark contrast to the former superintendent's actions."

Bedfordshire's Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Sharn Basra said "Mr Lyall's behaviour fell well short of the standards we expect, particularly from one of our senior leaders, and the panel had little option but to recommend a sanction of immediate dismissal".

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