Senior police officer who wrote the Met's drugs strategy fired for second time after refusing to take drugs test
A SENIOR police officer has been fired for a second time after refusing to take a drugs test.
Commander Julian Bennett last year successfully appealed against his initial dismissal in 2023.
The Met then ordered a fresh misconduct hearing for his refusal to provide a urine sample in 2020.
It again found him guilty of gross misconduct.
The cop, on the force since 1976, had been suspended on full pay throughout the process.
Met Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: 'I am enormously concerned that almost five years since this incident happened we have only now been able to dismiss Commander Bennett.
'This should have been a simple matter. Commander Bennett has never disputed he refused a lawful order to take a drugs test.
'As a senior officer who had chaired misconduct hearings, Commander Bennett was highly experienced and knew full well what was required of him, yet he made a choice not to co-operate.
'He has been suspended on full pay for an extraordinary length of time. I am sure Londoners will be as outraged as we are at the utter waste of public funds spent paying a senior officer to sit at home suspended and not work.'
Mr Bennett wrote the Met's drugs strategy for 2017-21, titled Dealing With The Impact Of Drugs On Communities.
1
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
Civil war splits cabinet over Rachel Reeves' spending review
Rachel Reeves has defended her economic policy, countering criticism from within the Labour Party regarding her spending review. Ms Reeves highlighted her efforts to rebalance the economy, referencing her childhood experiences and the need to address inequalities. She emphasised her commitment to providing free school meals and increasing universal credit, framing these as choices to support those most in need. Ms Reeves faces internal opposition, particularly from Angela Rayner, who is advocating for wealth taxes as an alternative to potential austerity measures. The upcoming spending review is expected to draw criticism, with concerns raised about potential cuts due to Reeves' commitment to not raising income tax, VAT, or national insurance contributions.
Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Reform chairman Zia Yusuf resigns after burka ban row
Zia Yusuf has announced he has quit as the chairman of Reform UK, hours after criticising some of the party's MPs for calling for a burka ban. Mr Yusuf tweeted: 'Eleven months ago I became chairman of Reform. I've worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30 per cent, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results. 'I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.' Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, said he was sad to see Mr Yusuf resign, which he said was because of the 'highly pressured' political environment. 'I am genuinely sorry that Zia Yusuf has decided to stand down as Reform UK chairman,' he said. 'As I said just last week, he was a huge factor in our success on May 1st and is an enormously talented person. 'Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life.' Mr Yusuf, a businessman, was brought in as party chairman in 2024 after Mr Farage returned as leader to fight the general election in July. The exact trigger for his decision to resign is unclear, but just hours before his announcement Mr Yusuf had publicly criticised a move by some MPs to call for a burka ban. On Wednesday, Sarah Pochin, Reform's newest MP after winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, had urged Sir Keir Starmer to back a burka ban during Prime Minister's Questions. She said: 'Given the Prime Minister's desire to strengthen strategic alignment with our European neighbours, will he, in the interests of public safety, follow the lead of France, Denmark, Belgium and others and ban the burka?' Lee Anderson, the Reform MP for Ashfield, then threw his support behind the idea, writing on the X social media platform: 'Ban the burqa? Yes we should.' But on Thursday morning, Mr Yusuf made clear he was against the policy when approached for comment publicly on social media. Mr Yusuf wrote on X: 'I do think it's dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do. Nothing to do with me. Had no idea about the question, nor that it wasn't policy. Busy with other stuff.' The news marks the latest upheaval for Reform, which earlier in the year lost one of the five MPs who had won a seat at the general election last summer – Rupert Lowe – after internal battles.
The Sun
34 minutes ago
- The Sun
Reform chairman QUITS & says helping Farage become PM is ‘not a good use of my time'
REFORM was plunged into a chaotic civil war last night after its chairman Zia Yusuf announced he's quitting the party. Mr Yusuf announced on social media that after 11 months in the job 'I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time'. 3 3 Insiders said that the chairman had felt 'shafted' into running the party's DOGE efficiency unit, aimed at slashing waste in local authorities. He also earlier on Thursday clashed with Reform's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, over the idea of a burqa ban. Mr Yusuf said: 'Eleven months ago I became Chairman of Reform. 'I've worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30 per cent, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results. 'I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.' Mr Yusuf was seen as a rising star in the party and close ally of Nigel Farage. While not an MP, the entrepreneur fronted several of the parties press conferences. He worked as chairman in a voluntary capacity. This comes after Farage earlier this week blasted "net stupid zero" for obliterating the UK's oil industry, ahead of a showdown Scottish by-election on tomorrow. The Reform chief drew battle lines against the SNP as he warned Scotland is "literally de-industrialising before our eyes". In Aberdeen Mr Farage slammed the nats, led by First Minister John Swinney, for sacrificing an entire industry and thousands of jobs at the alter of green diktats. He claimed neighbouring Norway is "laughing" as it watches ministers import Scandinavian fossil fuels while dismantling local industry. Against the shouts of protesters, at a posh fish and chips restaurant the Reform leader said: "We can con ourselves as much as we like. "There will be more coal burned this year than ever before in the history of human kind. The same applies to oil and gas. 'Even the most adren proponent of net zero has to accept the world will still be using oil and gas up until 2050 and beyond. 'And yet we've decided to sacrifice this industry as a consensus around Net Zero has emerged.' Mr Farage added that the fight to save oil and gas is "almost the next Brexit". He said: 'Believe me, the scales are falling from the eyes of the public when it comes to Net Zero. "They realise we are putting upon ourselves a massive cost, let alone the opportunity cost of what we're missing... 'When we closed down refineries.. and steelworks... all we're doing is exporting the emissions of CO2 with the goods then being shipped back to us. 'The public are waking up to this." It comes ahead of a Hoylrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on Thursday, described by Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice as an "absolute cat fight" with the SNP and Labour. Mr Farage acknowledged it would be an "earthquake" level shock if Reform's candidate wins the seat. But activists have reported being surprised at levels of support on the doorstep. Mr Farage insisted the Reform "can replicate success in Scotland". 3 is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.
