Met Police: Cdr Julian Bennett accused of cover-up over drugs test

Cdr Julian Bennett has been suspended on full pay since July 2020

A senior Met Police officer accused of smoking cannabis daily tried to stage a "cover-up" after refusing to take a drugs test, a barrister representing the force has told a tribunal.

A gross misconduct hearing has been told Cdr Julian Bennett, who wrote an anti-drugs strategy for the force, regularly smoked cannabis before work.

Cdr Bennett, who joined the Met Police in 1976, denies the allegations.

He has been suspended on full pay since July 2020.

• Met commander says he feared failing drugs test

• Met commander never sober at home, tribunal told

The tribunal previously heard his former lodger Sheila Gomes said she had regularly witnessed him smoking cannabis before going to work, while she lived at his flat between October and December 2019.

Cdr Bennett broke down at the misconduct hearing in Southwark, south London, as he told the panel "the Met needs me", adding that he would rather be at work than suspended on full pay.

'Reptilian'

"This investigation has taken three years and cost £1.5m; a lot of that has been public money," he said.

"I have got an in-built, strong work ethic. I am embarrassed I have spent so much public money on this.

"It is not for my own benefit. I would rather be at work and given the opportunity I would go back."

He said of his former lodger Ms Gomes: "I think she suggests I had the power to control her... and that I am a reptilian. This is incredible stuff."

'Hotline to the commissioner'

The tribunal heard that on 21 July 2020, Cdr Bennett had a private meeting with Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe at New Scotland Yard, where he refused to take a drugs test and offered to resign.

The tribunal was told he asked Assistant Commissioner Rolfe to approach then-Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick - to whom he referred as "Cress" - to request his resignation be accepted.

Mark Ley-Morgan KC, representing the force, said: "Please explain to us how that is not a cover-up, or sweeping something under the carpet?"

Cdr Bennett said: "You can't resign to avoid something; this would not have stopped the investigation."

Mr Ley Morgan asked Cdr Bennett if all officers got "a hotline to the commissioner" to ask if they could resign rather than take a drugs test.

Cdr Bennett told the hearing he thought she would not have engaged with a constable but that he was a senior officer who was closer to her.

Mr Ley-Morgan said Cdr Bennett's behaviour "was a clear example of you failing to act with integrity", which the officer rejected.

From the hearing - Sanchia Berg, BBC News correspondent

At the start of this week, it was Sheila Gomes who was repeatedly called a liar in the stuffy court-like room.

By the end, it was the turn of Cdr Julian Bennett, one of the most senior officers in the Met.

A nursing assistant, originally from Portugal, Ms Gomes lived in the commander's London flat for two months in 2019. She said he smoked cannabis every day.

Ms Gomes gave the Met Police a photograph apparently showing drugs in the flat, and WhatsApp messages she had sent to a friend at the time about this.

John Beggs KC, for Cdr Bennett, accused her of being a fantasist and of seeking some financial gain.

When he gave evidence, Cdr Bennett said he was "horrified" to see the photo taken by Ms Gomes, on 7 December 2019, of what looked like cannabis and cigarette papers on a glass table in his flat.

The officer said he knew nothing about it, and that he thought he would have been at yoga when the photo was taken.

He described Ms Gomes' claims as "bizarre", and said he thought she was a "lonely, troubled individual".

Cdr Bennett is accused of breaching the force's professional standards.

Allegations he took LSD and magic mushrooms were dismissed on Wednesday.

The tribunal is due to continue on 12 September.

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