Senior Met Police officer cleared of misconduct

Matthew Horne denied breaching force standards for integrity, discreditable conduct, challenging or reporting improper conduct and confidentiality

A Metropolitan Police officer accused of accessing force information to defend a bullying investigation has been cleared.

Matthew Horne threw a stress ball at a colleague, pushed them against a desk and swore at another while working as deputy chief constable of Essex Police.

He allegedly accessed documents about Supt Glenn Maleary ahead of a bullying disciplinary hearing in 2018.

A hearing has ruled his actions did not breach professional standards.

The ruling was made at Thames Valley Police headquarters, who hosted the misconduct hearing as an independent force in Oxford on Friday.

Mr Horne, now a Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the Met, admitted requesting and receiving the information but claimed he had a proper purpose in doing so.

During cross-examination on Thursday, Mr Horne said he believed he could properly request and receive the information following legal advice.

Giving the panel's reasoning for dismissing the claims against the officer, chairwoman Rachel Crasnow KC said it had "accepted Mr Horne's evidence that he was advised to get the documents."

"We do not think the fact of seniority changes the position," she said.

But Ms Crasnow said the panel's ruling did not mean senior officers had a right to "roam through" information about colleagues.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) did not prosecute Mr Horne following a two-year investigation.

'Barred list'

Mr Horne was also said to have failed to "promptly and appropriately report, challenge or take action" against David Clark, who passed him the information while working as a temporary commander at City of London Police.

The hearing was told Mr Clark accessed the documents via his work email and that "at some stage" the protective markings on them were removed.

Mr Clark emailed the documents from his work address to his personal one and then sent them to himself on WhatsApp before forwarding the WhatsApp message to Mr Horne, the hearing was told.

Mr Clark was placed on the police barred list after a disciplinary panel found he passed on the information.