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| QUOTE | Sir Ian Blair fights back: Former Met Chief reveals how some senior officers let him down - and how the Government fought the 'cash for honours' probe
By Sir Ian Blair
Last updated at 1:30 AM on 25th October 2009
Brian Paddick was 'driven by a need to be at the centre of events'...
I had been a great supporter of Brian. I think I was the first senior officer he told that he was gay, and I remember him being shocked when I told him he was not the most senior colleague to tell me that about themselves.
On my appointment as Commissioner, against much opposition, I gave him the best job available at his rank, that of deputy to Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin, in command of more than 20,000 staff.
Central to Brian's account of what happened in the hours that followed Jean Charles de Menezes's death on July 22, 2005, is that he was told by my staff officer, Moir Stewart, even before I gave the main Press conference on the afternoon of July 22, that the Met had 'shot a Brazilian tourist', and that either I must have known of Jean Charles's emerging identity during the evening and had therefore misled the public over an extensive period of time, or that I had been seriously let down by my personal staff.
It was, Brian seemed to believe, his public duty to confront me and then to work with the Independent Police Complaints Commission in their investigation into who knew what and when.
This stance, of course, was to be accompanied by the conversations with journalists that he recounts in his book, Line Of Fire. Given that many of its pages concern the shooting of Jean Charles, that is probably the most tasteless title imaginable.
The book was co-written with an investigative journalist and its publication coincided with Brian's 2008 campaign as LibDem candidate for London Mayor.
I do not believe that gossiping with journalists is an appropriate activity for a senior police officer, but nor is appearing, as Brian did subsequently, on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! an appropriate retirement activity for a former senior police officer.
Brian makes clear in his book, which is apparently based on his statement to the IPCC, that he had been told, first by Moir and Caroline Murdoch, my chief of staff, of the existence of Brazilian identity documents, which they accept happened.
But Brian puts this in the colourful phrase about a 'tourist', which Moir categorically denies saying and Caroline certainly does not remember hearing.
He is then very clear that, at two linked meetings at about 4pm, he was told of de Menezes's possible identity and that he was not thought to be one of the bombers. At an early point in one of these meetings he told a colleague about the possibility of the man being 'a Brazilian tourist'. Then, in his capacity as Acting Assistant-Commissioner because Tim was on leave, he attended my 5pm Management Board meeting.
It was not until the IPCC's Stockwell Two report was published, two years after the event, that I saw an explanation as to why he did not say anything during that meeting about what he believed about de Menezes.
According to that report: 'DAC Paddick states that he was present in the role of Acting Assistant Commissioner and had previously been told by a member of the Commissioner's staff that he was really only a Deputy Assistant Commissioner: implying that his views were not needed and he was only in attendance as an observer.'
I find this hard to reconcile with my experience of Brian: anyone who knows him or has seen him on television will recognise that he is not slow in coming forward. In large meetings he would often be the first to speak up.
Added to that, he had already told a colleague of his concerns. Also, on this day of days, I was seeking information from anyone and everyone and I find it hard to believe that any member of my staff would say this to Brian, and that an officer of his rank would accept that direction.
It was Brian's clear duty to tell me of his concern.
On August 21, 2005, the News of the World published an interview with me about what had happened at Stockwell. According to his book, Brian was telephoned directly by the BBC's World At One to ask his opinion of what I had said - and I wonder why they had his number; they would not have had mine.
Brian came to see me the next day, having discussed his concerns with a number of people, including Roy Clarke, IPCC Director of Investigations; Ronnie Flanagan, Chief Inspector of Constabulary; Catherine Crawford, Chief Executive of the Metropolitan Police Authority, and his boss, Tim Godwin, who came to my office to tell me Brian wanted to see me about what I had said to the News of the World, and was very agitated.
I asked him to tell Brian to come down right away, which he did at about 5pm. We had a very short conversation, standing up, midway between my desk and the door.
After he told me what he was concerned about - essentially the possibility that I knew the man shot by police at Stockwell was not one of the wanted terrorists while I publicly maintained otherwise - I was pretty irritated.
I told him he did not know what I knew or did not know and that he should report any concerns he had about my conduct to Catherine Crawford.
Not knowing how many people he had already told but remembering his tendency to seek reassurance for his actions from a number of colleagues, I suggested that, other than telling Catherine, he should keep his concerns to himself.
I told him: 'We both know the penalty for not telling the truth,' a comment I was subsequently told he apparently regarded as a threat but which was meant as a reason why I would not lie.
I have no recollection whatsoever of his suggesting that other people knew more or that my immediate colleagues had let me down. The meeting could not have lasted more than three or four minutes.
Brian was an extraordinary character, driven by a seemingly inexhaustible need to be at the centre of events. He was the only man I ever knew with a painting of himself on his office wall.
I liked him because he was a character and all organisations need characters. But I have no idea what made him challenge me as he did over Stockwell.
It meant he finished his career in serious dispute with the force he had loved and had served with distinction, it damaged the Met and it certainly did me no good at all.
One newspaper later described him as my nemesis: unfortunately I don't think he is entitled to that accolade. |
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Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Ian Blair to be 'completely exonerated'?
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July 7th People's Independent Inquiry Forum->J7 Research Fora->22/7: The Murder of Jean Charles de Menezes
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