Ex-Cleveland Police chief Mike Veale 'would have been sacked' over comments

Mike Veale claimed he had not made any sexual remarks to fellow officers, but a disciplinary panel ruled otherwise

An ex-chief constable who made sexual comments to colleagues would have been sacked if he was still in the role, a disciplinary panel has said.

Mike Veale, who led Cleveland Police for 10 months before resigning in 2019, told a senior female officer she could "touch herself" as they were sitting in a car.

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

On Wednesday, the panel ruled his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Steve Turner, will decide on the sanction to be imposed at a later date.

Mr Veale could be barred from working with police again.

The misconduct hearing was told that in October 2018 he was in a car with the woman, referred to as Witness B, when he received a complimentary email from a local councillor.

He then looked at his colleague's lap and said "go on, you can touch yourself now".

'Inappropriate' comments

A month later, during a visit to a police base in Norfolk, he referred to Witness B and the male officer known as Witness C as "bedfellows - metaphorically speaking or otherwise" before laughing.

He then repeated the comment in the hotel bar later that day.

Mr Veale, 57, denied he had said anything inappropriate, but the panel found the claims to be proved after hearing two days of evidence.

Cleveland's PCC brought the case following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Mr Veale stood down from the force in January 2019 a day after writing to the then-PCC Barry Coppinger.

In a letter he had 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".

However, during the disciplinary hearing he claimed he had not been saying sorry for sexual remarks and that his reference to "offence" was instead related to changes he had been implementing at the force.