Secret pay deals give Sean Price thousands extra

Posted: under News.

From The Times


July 6, 2009
 
cleveland Police the most corrupt force in the UK. “FACT”

Secret pay deals give top police thousands extra








Police constables



Sean O’Neill, Crime Editor

Senior police officers are receiving “off-book payments” and secret perks totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds, including private school fees and cars for their spouses.

The Times has discovered that one chief constable heading a force of just 1,700 officers was paid a £74,000 top-up on his salary last year. Sean Price, of the Cleveland force, was paid a £50,000 “retention package” and an “honorarium” of £24,000, raising his income to £200,000.

The private deals, sometimes referred to as debentures or supplements, are negotiated with police authorities behind closed doors and paid over and above salaries agreed in national negotiations.

The incentives include generous relocation packages, satellite TV, home security and even “lifestyle coaching”. They are legal but largely hidden from the public. The Times has uncovered the scale of the practice.



Ian McPherson, head of Norfolk police, received £70,000 more than his £126,000 salary in 2007-08 when his police authority paid the stamp duty on his purchase of a new house.

Sir Norman Bettison, West Yorkshire’s chief constable, has a “unique package” worth about £55,000 a year.

Essex Police Authority paid a “golden handcuffs” bonus to the chief constable, Roger Baker, but the strategy failed because he retired this week.

The pay deals are the subject of fierce disagreement among chief police officers and officials, who are gathering today in Manchester for the annual conference of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and the Association of Police Authorities.

Sir Ken Jones, the retiring president of Acpo, said: “If people feel that the pay scales need to change then they should be openly renegotiated. These payments effectively lock people into a particular force and inhibit movement and development.”

Another senior officer told The Times: “We should not have such secrets in the Police Service. This works totally against the idea of equal opportunities. You have to be part of the inner circle.”

But Stephen Bett, the chairman of Norfolk Police Authority, said: “If chief executives of district councils, with very limited direct public accountability, are paid £120,000 a year, what would attract anyone to be Chief Constable of Norfolk, with all his direct accountability, for £129,000 per year?”

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Comments (0) Jul 06 2009

Couple faces extradition over chemical sales

Posted: under News.

 

Headline News

Couple faces extradition over chemical sales

US jail threat to Scots family

Brian Howes with his pregnant wife Kerry and their daughters.By Craig Robertson

A SCOTS mum facing extradition to the US still doesn’t know when her fate will be decided — despite being due to give birth in just 10 days.

Mum-of-four Kerry Howes, who has been diagnosed with severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder, appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday but a hearing date was not set.

It means the 31-year-old faces a home birth without knowing if she will soon be taken 5000 miles away and thrown into jail. 

Up to 98 years

Kerry and husband Brian (45) from Bo’ness face up to 98 years in an Arizona jail if found guilty of exporting chemicals US authorities claim were used to make the drug crystal meth.

The couple ran a legal chemical business — Lab Chemicals International — until targeted by undercover agents posing as buyers after a tip-off by one American citizen.

They accused Brian and Kerry of selling iodine and red phosphorus in the knowledge they would be used to manufacture the highly addictive drug. The couple maintain they were simply selling chemicals to be used in amateur pyrotechnics.

Red phosphorous is perfectly legal in the UK but strictly regulated in the US. 

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” Brian told The Sunday Post. “We sold chemicals online to be used in fireworks, some as medication for animals and for sheep dip. We sold them everywhere except where they were embargoed.

Registered

“We were registered with the Special Branch and the Home Office. Central Scotland Police visited us regularly and we would ask if there was anything on the site we shouldn’t be selling and they always said no. Also we only dealt in credit card sales so all transactions were traceable.

“They even asked us to report any Muslim names among the people buying from us and we agreed to do that. Then the next thing we know we face extradition to the US without any evidence against us whatsoever.”

Brian and Kerry spent 214 days in separate prisons without charge last year, he in Saughton and she in Cornton Vale. 

The couple were eventually released on bail but only after Brian went on a 30-day hunger strike to prevent the children being put into care. 

That episode has left him with minor brain damage. Kerry has been left depressed at the prospect of losing her children — Denni (11), Bethaney (10), Ellie (6) and Leela (3).

One-sided treaty

The couple are victims of the one-sided post-September 11 extradition treaty which allows UK citizens to be forced to the US to stand trial. It allows Britons to be extradited without prima facie evidence of criminality.

“We’re being extradited on false information and none of it can be challenged,” said Brian.

The couple’s cases are now being considered separately and Kerry returned to the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday. She met with a new advocate and new medical reports were called for.

“No date was set, not even for a preliminary hearing,” explained Brian. “The judges said they were unhappy that our cases are being dealt with separately. 

Refused

“My case is scheduled for May 26 to 29 and Kerry’s will not be set until after that. If I win, she wins automatically, that has been made clear. If I lose then she will go into court after that.”

The couple have been refused application to have their bail conditions changed to allow both of them to attend hospital for the birth of the baby.

Brian’s curfew insists he is at home from 8 pm to 8 am and both must sign on at their local police station three times a day. As a result they feel they have no option but to go for a home birth.

The extradition was formally approved by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill. A Justice spokesman said they could not comment subject to the appeal to the High Court. 

© All copyright D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd., 2009
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Comments (0) Apr 27 2009

Tribunal told of “delays and neglect” at Cleveland Police

Posted: under Cleveland Police, Lancet Files.

Jan 8 2009 By Evening Gazette

Crimes were going unrecorded and arrest warrants left outstanding due to civilian staff shortages at Cleveland Police, a tribunal has heard.

Sue Francis, from Ingleby Barwick, is suing her employers for constructive unfair dismissal, claiming she felt forced to leave her position after a string of incidents involving a number of staff.

The mum-of-three was “bullied, victimised and over-worked” while working for the police, the employment tribunal heard.

In her opening statement, the 48-year-old said her problems began soon after starting in her post as national calls operator in the central crimes bureau.

When the bureau lost seven members of staff to other departments, she claimed “crimes were going unrecorded in their hundreds”.

Mrs Frances said on one day there were “13 outstanding warrants” which had failed to be recorded into the Police National Computer (PNC), when a warrant was meant to be logged within two hours.

“The warrants were being left, they were being neglected,” she said.

More than 3,000 penalty points and stolen property lists were also being “left for long periods of time”, she said.

Mrs Francis told the tribunal she felt intimidated by work colleagues.

After making a complaint regarding the alleged intimidation, Mrs Francis was given a mobile phone number to call at times when management were not present and she felt threatened.

Mrs Francis was employed by the police between October 2005 and September, 2007, although she was off on sick leave from April 24, 2007, until her resignation.

Cleveland Police denies the claims.

* Proceeding.

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Comments (0) Jan 28 2009

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