PLEBGATE PROBECOP RAP OVER FREEBIES;
VIP treatment at gigs and match
EXCLUSIVE
9 June 2013
 |
RESIGNED: Andrew Mitchell |
THE
senior police officer leading the review into the Plebgate affair has
been warned over freebies he enjoyed at the home of a Premier League
club.
Deputy chief constable Ian Hopkins
was questioned over hospitality he accepted from Manchester City FC's
security chief at least four times - which he failed to declare
promptly.
He enjoyed VIP facilities
at sell-out concerts at the City of Manchester Stadium to see Take
That, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen and to watch a Champions League
fixture against Real Madrid.
Mr Hopkins and guests were treated to a hotpot and drinks in the corporate hospitality area.
He is in charge of a team
of officers from the Greater Manchester force examining the Met
police's handing of Plebgate, the affair which led Tory MP Andrew
Mitchell to resign as Chief Whip, after a row with officers in Downing
Street.
 |
| Deputy Chief: Ian Hopkins |
The newly appointed
£140,000-a-year deputy chief is investigating claims officers lied and
fabricated evidence. Mr Mitchell was accused of calling the police
plebs, which he denies.
Mr Hopkins has frequently
overseen the policing of football matches. Now he has been warned about
his failure to disclose immediately special treatment as a guest of the
stadium's head of security Peter Fletcher, who is also a former senior
police officer with the Greater Manchester force.
Last night a statement
from the chief constable Sir Peter Fahy said: "The Deputy Chief Constable has attended three concerts at the Etihad having purchased standard tickets. At each he has received an element of hospitality and has been given advice by the Chief Constable about this issue. As a result he has made additional entries in the force's Gifts and Hospitality Register.”
He added that Mr Hopkins had not been formally disciplined but said the discussion had been “part of the normal relationship between managers and staff and provides a record that a matter has been addressed.”
He added: "It is accepted that occasionally police officers are offered gifts and hospitality due to the role that they perform and the relationships that they build with partners and commercial organisations. It is important that any such gifts and hospitality that are accepted are properly recorded.
"There is a commercial relationship between MCFC and Greater Manchester Police over the provision of policing services. The charging mechanism for this this set by national guidance, which GMP adheres to."
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