A police force that is already engulfed in scandal has been hit with claims of a second affair involving a high-ranking officer. The claims include allegations of groin stroking in the office and text messages about nipple tassels.
Greg Vant, a former assistant chief constable at Northumbria police, is said to have had a fling with Juliet Bains, the secretary of Mike Craik, who was chief constable at the time.
Mr Craik himself is alleged to have had an affair with Carolyn Peacock, another assistant chief constable whose husband allegedly punched the chief constable when he learnt of the betrayal.
Denise Aubrey, the former head of legal services who is suing the force, claims that Mr Craik oversaw the cover-up of the affair and its fallout for several years.
Further allegations of a cover-up emerged yesterday at an employment tribunal hearing in North Shields, North Tyneside, after Ms Aubrey, 54, gave evidence that references to Mr Vant’s secondment away from the force, arranged because of his relationship with Ms Bains, were removed from his file.
Advertisement
She said that Ms Bains outraged her colleagues in the secretarial pool by stroking Mr Vant’s groin when he was in her office, while text messages between the pair allegedly made suggestive references to nipple tassels and hula hoops.
At first their relationship was treated as sexual harassment of Ms Bains by Mr Vant after concerns were raised by Mr Craik, she said.
Mr Vant was given a “secondment” amid fears that if the “sex pest allegations”, as they became known, came to light, it would damage public confidence. It was later found that the pair were in a relationship, it is alleged.
However the details of the agreement and reference to the specific charges were removed from his file, Ms Aubrey claimed. She told the tribunal that she was asked to help cover up both the affairs before she was accused of gossiping to colleagues about the indiscretions of her bosses and sacked for gross misconduct.
Ms Aubrey, who worked for Northumbria police for 20 years and claims that sexism was rife, denies passing on sensitive information and is claiming unfair dismissal by the force, one of the largest in the UK.
Advertisement
Earlier the tribunal was told that Mrs Peacock’s husband, Jim, a former superintendent, punched Mr Craik at his home in Bamburgh, Northumberland, when he discovered the affair.
Police were allegedly called when Mr Craik’s wife, Sharon, pushed a panic alarm, but Mr Craik allegedly insisted that a log of the incident be deleted. The alleged affair in 2007, which is denied by Mr Craik and the Peacocks, both 60, who have all left the force, was not exposed until the tribunal judge lifted an anonymity order on Wednesday.
Yesterday Ms Aubrey told the court that she had been asked by Mr Craik to advise him on libel and how to keep accusations of the affair out of the media. “I don’t know if he lied to me but from what I have found out since, I think he did,” she said.
“At the time he told me it had not happened and I acted on those instructions. But something did happen because of what was revealed to me.”
She said: “If we used public money to cover it up, then we do have an issue here and a potential criminal investigation.”
Advertisement
In her witness statement placed before the hearing, Ms Aubrey said that Mr Craik was angry with Mr Vant because he suspected him of sexually harassing Ms Bain, referred to as Staff Member A (SMA).
Mr Craik wanted to suspend Mr Vant, she said, but she advised that he had no power to do so and so he was offered a secondment instead.
There was also an issue about inappropriate use of Northumbria police equipment, she said.
“Emails and texts were received which from memory contained bizarre references to ‘ghosts’ which Craik feared were being sent to scare SMA. There were other comments concerning, from memory, ‘hula hoops’ and ‘nipples with tassels’, obviously some private banter between them. I believe that copies of these texts have deliberately been removed from the file.”
Ms Aubrey said that when she spoke to Ms Bain, she “denied there had been any relationship with Vant or that she wanted one”.
Advertisement
“My professional opinion was that the evidence on harassment was thin. SMA was not a shrinking violet and one of the other secretaries complained that SMA was seen to be stroking his groin over his clothing in SMA’s office, which she had felt inappropriate and distasteful.”
When it later became apparent that the relationship was continuing, Ms Bain was moved to the human resources department, the statement said.
The tribunal continues.