Ex-chief constable who led Ted Heath sex abuse witch-hunt sees career end in disgrace after telling female officer to touch herself as they sat in car
- Mike Veale, 57, made the comment while Cleveland Police Chief Constable
- He now faces the possibility of being unable to work for the police in future
The former chief constable who launched the Ted Heath sex abuse ‘witch hunt’ has seen his career end in disgrace after he was found to have told a female officer to touch herself as they sat in car.
Mike Veale, 57, was found to have horrified a female officer of senior rank with the comment he made while they sat in her car during his 10 month tenure as Chief Constable of Cleveland Police.
He now faces the possibility of being placed on the police barred list which would mean he was unable to work for policing organisations in the future.
A decision on sanctions will be made by Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner and will be revealed at a future date.
Mr Veale is best known for leading Wiltshire police when they were investigating Ted Heath, who was prime minister between 1970 and 1974, over allegations of a string of sexual assaults.
Mike Veale (pictured) , 57, who launched the Ted Heath sex abuse ‘witch hunt’ has seen his career end in disgrace after he was found to have told a female officer to touch herself as they sat in car
Mr Veale is best known for leading Wiltshire police when they were investigating Ted Heath (pictured), who was prime minister between 1970 and 1974, over allegations of a string of sexual assaults
Following a three day hearing in Middlesbrough, a police disciplinary panel found that Mr Veale’s accusers – Witnesses B and C – had given truthful accounts.
Sara Fenoughty, the legally qualified panel chair said: ‘We heard your submissions on the facts and we preferred the evidence of Witnesses B and C and we find the allegations proven.
READ MORE: Chief constable who led ‘witch hunt’ sex abuse probe into ex-Prime Minister Edward Heath faces being barred from police work after ‘telling a female officer to touch herself and referring to colleagues as bedfellows’
The panel did not rule on whether his actions constituted misconduct or gross misconduct and invited submission from counsel for Mr Veale and Cleveland’s PCC.
After reading out a complimentary email he had received from a councillor as they sat in her car, Mr Veale told her: ‘Go on, you can touch yourself now.’
The comment, made before a meeting with the Chief Executive of Stockton Borough Council and a local MP, left the officer – identified as Witness B – ‘in shock.’
Three months later, in December 2018, Veale left the same officer furious by suggesting she and a male colleague were ‘bedfellows, metaphorically and otherwise.’
He made the comment to Simon Bailey, the Chief Constable of Norfolk, who had invited Veale and his senior team to learn about best practice in the field of public protection.
Both the male and female officers were stunned by the innuendo-laden comment.
Giving evidence, the male officer – identified only as Witness C – said: ‘Mr Veale said to Mr Bailey that Witness B and I were bedfellows, metaphorically and otherwise.
‘The context I took that in was that Mr Veale was suggesting that Witness B and I were involved in a relationship outside of work. He laughed while he said it, that is why I felt the way he said it was in a more suggestive way..
‘My wife is a police officer and Witness B’s husband was a police officer. We were all acutely aware of the damage that kind of rumour and innuendo could cause.
‘We were aware of people who had been affected by rumours in the organisation so allowing rumours to spread would be potentially damaging for both of us.’
Veale now faces the possibility of being placed on the police barred list which would mean he was unable to work for policing organisations in the future
The disciplinary hearing in Middlesbrough also heard that Veale asked Mr Bailey whether he would like to cuddle his staff officer, a Cleveland officer at the rank of Chief Inspector.
READ MORE: Ex-chief constable who led discredited ‘witch hunt’ against Ted Heath over false sex abuse claims quits £100K police scrutiny job just two months after appointment amid storm over misconduct claims
The exchange was detailed by Witness B in her witness statement. She had not been at the restaurant when it allegedly happened but was recounting what she said Mr Veale had told her about the dinner afterwards.
It was suggested by Dijen Basu, KC, counsel for Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner, that Mr Veale said to Simon Bailey in the restaurant: ‘Give my staff officer a cuddle. she likes cuddles.’
He put it to Mr Veale that he himself had later joked to Witness B that Mr Bailey ‘scarpered from the restaurant’ after his comment.
Mr Veale denied any of the comments were ever made in the way suggested.
He did admit using the term ‘bedfellows’ but in a hotel bar, not in front of Mr Bailey and only in the context that it meant ‘collaborative working.’
He admitted that the female officer – identified as Witness B – became angry at the term, but he pointed out its meaning in a ‘business setting’ and invited her and the others present to Google it.
Frequently referring to himself in the third person, Mr Veale gave evidence to the hearing.
He admitted he could be ‘sweary’ and that he had upset people during his spell in charge of Cleveland from March 2018 to January 2019.
But he said that was only because of his ‘robust’ methods in ringing changes at a ‘force in crisis.’
He said: ‘Year after year after year senior leaders had turned a blind eye and people did not like to hear it.
‘They did not like that truth and I was animated and robust about some of the things I was uncovering, some of the people involved and some of the practices I uncovered.
Mr Veale denied any of the comments mentioned during the disciplinary hearing in Middlesbrough were ever made in the way suggested
‘I knew I had offended a number of people in the way I had confronted some of the truths. I knew I had offended lots of people who were disbenefitted by the changes I was making, it upset a huge amount of senior leaders particularly.’
However he said he had tried to deal with his staff with humility. Mr Veale said: ‘I would have been self deprecating.
‘In MIke Veale language that means taking the mickey out of myself. I try to show humility, that is how you engage with people to win their confidence.’
The hearing did not deal with a further controversy during his time with Cleveland.
He was accused by one of his senior officers of having a ‘personal and undisclosed relationship’ with Christiana Emsley, then the civilian head of standards and ethics with the force.
This accusation was made by Superintendent Beverley Gill when disciplinary proceedings against her were dropped last March.
As she was cleared, Superintendent Gill made a statement to her disciplinary hearing, saying: ‘The history of the investigation against me which led to the bringing of these proceedings has been biased, flawed and inherently unfair.
‘I have been used as the warning to others sought by former Chief Constable Mike Veale. Improper control and influence on the investigation appears to have arisen because of his personal and undisclosed relationship with Christiana Emsley.
‘Witness statements display loaded questions, witnesses disliked me based on my direct management style and statements are loaded with opinion, rumour and hearsay evidence.’
Ms Emsley herself is engaged in a legal battle against Cleveland Police over her short time with the force.
Veale was accused by one of his senior officers of having a ‘personal and undisclosed relationship’ with Christiana Emsley (pictured), then the civilian head of standards and ethics with the force
She is bringing an employment tribunal claiming sexual discrimination, which had been due to start earlier this month but was withdrawn and rescheduled to a date to be fixed, probably next year.
The claims against the former Prime Minister were investigated as part of Operation Midland, the Metropolitan police inquiry into historical claims of child abuse and related homicides.
Operation Conifer, the arm of Operation Midland specifically focusing on Heath, found that there was no reason to suspect he had carried out a string of sexual assaults, but said he would have been interviewed if he were still alive.
The controversial investigation into Heath, which began in 2015, is estimated to have cost more than £1.2m.
A previous investigation into Veale was launched in January 2018 by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following anonymous claims that he had damaged his police-issued mobile phone to hide contacts with ‘various parties’ during Operation Conifer, which looked into claims about the late prime minister that were eventually dismissed.
The IOPC said in September of that year there was no evidence that Veale had deliberately damaged the phone in order to hide information, but it reprimanded him for telling colleagues that it had been dropped in a golf club car park and inadvertently run over.
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