Top cop’s 120-mile squad car trip ‘put the driver at risk’
- Chief Constable used traffic officer as her chauffeur in Storm Babet
By Graham Grant For The Scottish Daily Mail[1]
Published: 23:53, 24 November 2023 | Updated: 23:53, 24 November 2023
Scotland’s police chief was embroiled in a growing row last night over her ‘misuse’ of a patrol car to get a lift home to England.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell was also accused of putting an officer’s safety at risk during her ‘taxpayer-funded taxi ride’ from Edinburgh[2] on a Friday night last month.
The Mail revealed yesterday that Ms Farrell commandeered a police vehicle driven by an on-duty traffic officer for a 120-mile trip to the Northumberland area after stormy weather forced the cancellation of her train.
She was accompanied by a senior officer from Durham Constabulary – where Ms Farrell was Chief Constable – who was said to be assisting her with the ‘governance’ of Police Scotland in the midst of a cash crisis.
‘Taxi’ row: Police chief Jo Farrell apologised
It is understood Ms Farrell was dropped at her home in Northumberland while the colleague is believed to have been taken to Gateshead in the unmarked car.
The Police Scotland traffic officer then had to make his way back to Edinburgh, meaning he was off regular duties for six hours.
Last night Ms Farrell, 55, who has apologised for her ‘error of judgment’, faced further criticism over the decision to use an officer as her driver for the trip on Friday, October 20, during Storm Babet.
According to the Met Office, the storm packed ‘very strong winds, gusting at over 58mph across North-East England and much of Scotland’, making driving conditions tricky.
The Scottish Police Authority (SPA), the civilian oversight body for Police Scotland, has said it ‘considers the matter closed’ after Ms Farrell apologised.
But last night Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said frontline officers ‘deserve a full explanation’.
He said: ‘There are many unknown details and unanswered questions, including what, if any, consideration was given to the safety of the officer who was ordered to complete this 240-mile round trip in dangerous weather conditions.’
The SPA said Ms Farrell was accompanied by a former colleague who was ‘providing general advice, on best practice, governance and reducing bureaucracy’, as ‘sharing best practice is common across UK policing’, and he was not paid for his work.
The Mail has been told there were only two traffic officers on duty in J division – covering the former Lothian and Borders Police area – and one was enlisted for the cross-Border driving job.
Last night former Police Scotland superintendent Brian Cook said: ‘While her driver would have been highly trained, this would have been putting him at increased risk, needlessly.’
Graeme Pearson, who led the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said the trip showed ‘a surprising lack of sensitivity’.
Ms Farrell, who took over as the GBP248,724-a-year Chief Constable of cash-strapped Police Scotland on October 9, has a family home in Northumberland.
It is understood she is living in Edinburgh while she looks for a base in Scotland.
She said on Thursday: ‘I was unable to complete the journey by train as services had been cancelled and my own police vehicle was unavailable.
I have apologised for this error of judgment.’
A senior Police Scotland insider said: ‘A lot of ordinary cops will think she has shown some cheek given the scale of cuts police are facing – this isn’t the time for the chief to be taking a taxpayer-funded taxi ride.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it was ‘a matter for the SPA’.