Sarah Everard: Staff dismay over North Yorkshire police boss comments

Image source, Everard family

Image caption, Sarah Everard, originally from York, was killed by serving police officer Wayne Couzens after he falsely arrested her

A police boss has brought his office into "disrepute" with "misogynistic" remarks regarding the Sarah Everard case, his staff have said.

In a letter, colleagues of North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Philip Allott said they had no confidence in him.

Mr Allott had previously apologised for saying women needed to be "streetwise".

Responding to the letter, he said he was keen to gain the "trust and confidence" of staff.

The letter, seen by the BBC, was addressed to the chief executive of the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC).

In it, the unnamed employees stated they were "appalled" at Mr Allott's comments in his interview with BBC Radio York.

His remarks came after it emerged Ms Everard's killer, a serving police officer, had tricked her by falsely arresting her for a breach of Covid-19 guidelines.

The Conservative commissioner responded, saying "women, first of all, need to be streetwise about when they can be arrested and when they can't be arrested" and Ms Everard "should never have been arrested and submitted to that".

'Dismayed'

The letter stated staff were "shocked" a person holding his office "could hold, let alone voice, such misogynistic views".

Employees said his words had "undermined" their work and impacted on their relationships with colleagues working for the county's police force and fire service.

Staff no longer had confidence in Mr Allott as PFCC and did not believe he could regain it, they added.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner confirmed a letter had been received from staff and had been forwarded to North Yorkshire's Police, Fire and Crime Panel.

The panel is due to meet on Thursday to discuss Mr Allott's remarks, though it does not have the power to impose any sanctions.

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In a letter to the panel's legal advisor, Mr Allott said he had not had time to consider a response to the letter from staff and had not had the opportunity to meet with the majority of them in person.

"Moving forwards I am keen to gain their trust and confidence by my actions and have started discussing this with my chief executive," he wrote.

Timeline of events:

Image caption, Mr Allott has been the elected North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for five months
  • 1 October: Philip Allott makes comments about women needing to be "streetwise" about powers of arrest in BBC Radio York interview
  • Later that day he retracts the comments and issues an apology amid calls for him to resign
  • 3 October: The Prime Minister calls his comments "completely wrong," but stops short of calling for Mr Allott to resign
  • 4 October: Fire Brigades Union North Yorkshire branch say staff have "lost all confidence" in him
  • 8 October: In a BBC Look North interview Mr Allott again apologises, however he insists he will not resign
  • 11 October: Ripon and Skipton MP Julian Smith, a former cabinet secretary, said Mr Allott has lost the "trust" of women and "should go".

The letter also expressed the writers' views about Mr Allott's reaction to the furore around his comments.

"We cannot believe that his apology is sincere nor that his pledges to change or to learn from this are genuine," it continued.

Allegations about Mr Allott's behaviour towards some colleagues, including sexist and misogynistic comments, were also raised.

In his letter to the panel's legal advisor, Mr Allott wrote: "I would like to state clearly that I refute the secondary allegations apart from one minor issue, about my conduct beyond the central issue, which has caused the complaints to both my office and the Panel.

"With the exception of the minor issue, which was informally resolved at the time, all other issues were only raised after I had met with staff following the radio interview."

Mr Allott said he would reply in full to the staff letter "providing I am given more time in order to do that properly with my staff"

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