Ex-Police Scotland officer cleared of perjury in tribunal
A former police inspector has been cleared of perjury over evidence he gave at an employment tribunal which found there was an "absolute boys' club" in a Police Scotland firearms unit.Keith Warhurst was found guilty of behaving in an abusive manner by making a derogatory comment about a colleague's partner, who was pregnant, in 2017 and not guilty of sharing indecent images of topless women to a WhatsApp group.The perjury charge was not proven and Mr Warhurst was given an absolute discharge, meaning no punishment will be given.Sheriff Derek O'Carroll said the charge Mr Warhurst has been found guilty of "would not have found its way into this court" had it not been for the perjury charge.
Sheriff O'Carroll also said it was "important to bear in mind the remorse which has been expressed by the accused".Mr Warhurst, who has since left the force, gave evidence at an employment tribunal in 2021 which found that a female officer was victimised after raising concerns about a sexist email.In the email, Mr Warhurst said two female firearms officers should not be deployed together when there were sufficient males on duty.
The case brought by Rhona Malone found evidence of a "boys' club" culture in Police Scotland's firearms unit and a settlement was reached in which Ms Malone was paid nearly £1m by the force.Mr Warhurst gave evidence at this tribunal, and the charges against him in the perjury trial stated that he had denied having made a derogatory remark about a colleague's partner or having sent indecent images when he knew he had.During the trial, Mr Warhurst admitted to making a remark but claimed that he did not lie to the tribunal at the time because he did not remember making the comment. He also later apologised to the colleague.
Fellow former firearms officer Richard Creanor told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that he witnessed Mr Warhurst make the remark in 2017.Mr Creanor said that fellow officer John Morgan had told several colleagues in a shared office that his partner had discovered she was pregnant.He told them he took the previous day off work to go to a hospital appointment with her because she initially believed she had a cyst.Mr Creanor claimed that Keith Warhurst then swore and said the woman must be fat "if she didn't realise she was pregnant".The jury found Mr Warhurst guilty of this charge, but cleared him of the related and more serious perjury charge.
No recollection of sending pictures
After the verdict and when granting the absolute discharge, Sheriff O'Carroll remarked that Mr Warhurst had since apologised to Mr Morgan for his comments and expressed remorse, which is "another relevant matter which the court is required to take into account".During the trial, Mr Warhurst said he had no recollection of sending pictures of topless women to a WhatsApp group.Mr Warhurst's perjury charge was found to be not proven by the jury, meaning he has been cleared of the offence.An absolute discharge means that no punishment will be given to Mr Warhurst.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
13 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Reform and indy will be at the heart of our debate for years
Of course, by now you already know the result, so you'll know which of the following scenarios and their consequences are the most accurate. But let me start with what the national polls tell us ought to have happened, by-election peculiarities – which I'll come to – notwithstanding. The SNP should have won with around 33% of the vote, down significantly on the 46.2% it won in 2021, with Labour in a narrow second on around 28% of the vote. Reform should have come third with just under 20% of the vote, while the Conservatives should have collapsed to under 10% of the vote. The rest of the vote, around 10%, will have been split among the Greens, Liberal Democrats, and myriad minor parties and independents. But by-elections rarely work out this way, even when the national polls are accurate. Firstly, voters are more likely to have voted in protest than they are at national elections, which may well help Reform in this case. As Jamie, a service engineer from Hamilton, told a focus group run by More in Common, it's 'time to give someone else a chance,' even if he thinks Nigel Farage is an 'a***hole'. Read more by Mark McGeoghegan Secondly, turnout will likely have collapsed. In the Hamilton and Rutherglen West by-election in October 2023, turnout fell by 43% compared to the 2019 General Election. A similar decline here would see around 15,600 voters who would otherwise turn out in a national election stay at home instead. Given that voters turning out to vote Reform as a protest against both the SNP and Labour governments are likely to be more motivated than SNP and Labour voters, this may also advantage Reform. In fact, assuming predictions based on national polling would otherwise have been accurate, Reform's vote will only have to have been marginally more resilient for it to finish ahead of Labour and narrowly behind the SNP. Factor in that first peculiarity of by-election campaigns, and such a scenario is hardly far-fetched. On the eve of the by-election, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the First Minister, John Swinney, and journalists of manufacturing Reform's competitiveness in the seat. Nothing could be further from the truth, and a Reform underperformance yesterday will have been more surprising than it coming second. It has demonstrated its strength in a succession of local by-elections, the latest of which saw it beat Labour to come second behind the SNP. Whether or not Reform came second yesterday, its performance will shape the narrative in Scottish politics going into next year's elections in conjunction with its UK-wide polling lead (it has led in 25 consecutive polls going back to the beginning of May) and strong results in recent local elections and Parliamentary by-elections in England. Ultimately, regardless of yesterday's result, the spectre of Nigel Farage looms over Scottish politics. There are three broad scenarios. Firstly, that Reform performed to its Scotland-wide polling, confirming that it is on course to win between 15 and 20 seats in next year's Scottish Parliament election. Secondly, that it did overperform, perhaps coming second, leading to the next 11 months to being dominated by the SNP seeking to present next year's elections as a choice between the SNP and Nigel Farage, and a bitter fight between Reform and Labour for status as the main challengers to the SNP. Thirdly, that it underperformed, in which case the SNP will be quick to emphasise divergence between Scottish and English politics. In any case, the SNP will use the prospect of a Reform government at Westminster to try to increase the salience of the constitutional question, attempting to return independence to the heart of the Scottish political agenda ahead of next year's elections and the following UK general election. It knows that that is its best bet for winning back pro-independence voters who have swung to Labour in recent years. Replacing Humza Yousaf with John Swinney may have stabilised the SNP's support, but the party not really recovered in any meaningful way. The longer Reform leads in UK-wide polls, the more likely that narrative will be to gain purchase among the independence-supporting electorate. Strong Reform showings in Scotland will reinforce the sense that they could win power in 2029; weak performances will emphasise the ways in which Scottish and English politics may be diverging. Both provide hooks for the SNP. The spectre of Nigel Farage looms large over Scottish politics (Image: PA) The bigger question is whether this leads to a change in the constitutional deadlock. Some recent polling suggests that support for independence may have edged up. Norstat recently recorded its first Yes leads in three years, finding Yes ahead by seven points in the wake of Reform's strong showing in the English local elections. Survation still has No ahead by two or three points, down from leads of seven or eight points a year ago. The data is not conclusive, and we should be cautious of hypotheticals around whether developments will change voters' minds – we had enough such polls around Brexit and Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister that never bore out. But the prominence of Reform UK and Nigel Farage in UK politics is a gift to the SNP and the independence movement, regardless of how they performed yesterday or how they perform north of the Border in the coming year. If Anas Sarwar is frustrated with his opponents' and the media's "obsession" with Reform UK, he should get used to that feeling – they'll be at the heart of Scottish political debate for years to come. Mark McGeoghegan is a Glasgow University researcher of nationalism and contentious politics and an Associate Member of the Centre on Constitutional Change. He can be found on BlueSky @
BBC News
13 minutes ago
- BBC News
Police investigate after woman found dead at Portsmouth home
Police are investigating the death of a woman at a house in were called to the property in Wadham Road at 07:37 BST on death is currently being treated as suspicious, police force said its neighbourhood policing team for the area would be carrying out regular patrols and asked people with concerns to speak to these uniformed officers. Anyone with information should contact Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
BBC News
13 minutes ago
- BBC News
Investigation launched after lorry crashes on M20 in Kent
Police say they are investigating a "serious collision" on the M20. Kent Police said it was called shortly after 15:15 BST on Thursday to the incident on the junction nine slip road of the M20 coastbound.A lorry had left the carriageway, the force said. Eastbound between J8 and J9 on the M20, which runs between Ashford and Maidstone, was closed until just before 04:00 BST on Friday, according to National Highways. South East Coast Ambulance Service and Kent Fire & Rescue Service attended the scene. Kent Police appealed for anyone who witnessed or has dashcam footage of the crash to get in contact.
