Former head of Cleveland Police Mike Veale guilty of gross misconduct

Mike Veale could be barred from working within police again

A former police chief made comments of a sexual nature to colleagues, telling a woman she could "touch herself", a disciplinary panel has ruled.

Mike Veale, who was Chief Constable of Cleveland Police at the time, looked at his female colleague's lap when he made the remark while sat together in a car.

He later described the same woman and a senior male officer as "bedfellows".

The panel said Veale's conduct, which took place in 2018, amounted to gross misconduct.

The 57-year-old, who was appointed chief constable in 2018, before leaving 10 months later, had denied both allegations.

He claimed the female officer, referred to as Witness B, may have misheard him saying she could "pinch herself".

Veale also denied using the word "bedfellows" as an innuendo, saying it was a word he had used many times in a professional context.

However, the panel at the misconduct hearing in Middlesbrough found "the allegations to be proved", chairwoman Sara Fenoughty said.

'Lonely place'

Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) brought the case following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Dijen Basu KC, for the PCC, said Veale was in a car with Witness B in November 2018 when he read out a complimentary email he had received from a local councillor.

He then looked at her lap and said "Go on, you can touch yourself now", the panel heard.

The following month, on a visit to Norfolk Constabulary headquarters and in front of other officers, Veale referred to Witness B and a male officer, known as Witness C, as "bedfellows - metaphorically speaking or otherwise".

He repeated the remark the same evening in a hotel bar, the panel heard.

'Sexualised comments'

Mr Basu said: "These were sexualised comments by a chief constable to those who are considerably junior to him.

"[The comment in the car] came out of the blue, it was discriminatory and in the privacy of a motorcar.

"It's a lonely place if you are with your chief constable when they make that sort of comment, with that sort of gesture."

Veale wrote to Cleveland's then-PCC, Barry Coppinger, in January 2019 to say he was aware it had been alleged he had made "sexualised comments" to colleagues, the hearing was told.

In the letter, Veale said he was "mortified if I have caused offence to anyone" and accepted "there may have been comments made during conversation with colleagues they may have considered inappropriate".

The next day he served a notice of his retirement with immediate effect, after 10 months in his post.

However, giving evidence at the hearing, Veale denied he had been apologising for making sexual comments and said the 'offence' stated had been a reference to any upset he had caused to staff with his changes to the struggling police force.

Urging the panel to make a finding of the lesser offence of misconduct, Veale's representative, Peter Wright KC, said: "The culpability is increased by his rank and it involves sexual impropriety, but these are isolated incidents lacking in persistence and not accompanied by physical acts.

"They are incidents of brief duration during a long and distinguished career."

The panel is expected to make a recommendation on sanctions at a later date.

Veale, who has the right to appeal, could be barred from working within police again.