Police chief Grahame Maxwell handed disciplinary warning

North Yorkshire Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell has received a final written warning over allegations he tried to help a relative get on the police career ladder in a recruitment process.

On Monday, he admitted before a disciplinary panel that he had breached professional standards.

His law firm, Kingsley Napley, confirmed he received a final warning which will remain in force for 18 months, saying he “accepts that his conduct has been discreditable to the force and amounts to gross misconduct”.

Chief Constable Maxwell became the first UK chief constable in 34 years to face a disciplinary hearing.

He faced five counts of breaching police conduct regulations and abusing his authority. He denied the charges, which challenge his honesty and integrity, until Monday of this week.

Tarnished credibility and integrity

The chief constable's admission of gross misconduct came at the eleventh hour, writes Channel 4 News Home Affairs Correspondent Simon Israel.

For over a year Mr Maxwell has been denying that his actions amounted to a breach of discipline at all.

In fact, in the inquiry report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission notes that Mr Maxwell thought, as chief constable, he could do what he wanted.

Mr Maxwell may have avoided dimissal but his credibility and integrity have been badly tarnished.

The case against Mr Maxwell centred around a recruitment exercise to the North Yorkshire police force last spring.

A phone bank was set up to filter candidates and restrict applications to the first 1,000 suitable applicants. However, the system crashed after 350,000 calls were made – most of which were unable to get through.

When the lines were restored, Mr Maxwell helped man the phones. But an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission found he had rung a relative who had been unable to get through.

More from Channel 4 News: Police chief hearing over ‘job rigging’

(Above: Channel 4 News Home Affairs Correspondent first reports on the misconduct allegations in November 2010)

Two members of the North Yorkshire Police force have already been dismissed for gross misconduct over attempts to circumvent the same recruitment process for their own gain. They submitted forms without going through the initial stage of registering their interest by phone.

Ironically, the force announced last November that the entire recruitment process had been scrapped as part of a programme of cutbacks.

The last chief constable to be sacked was in 1977, when Stanley Parr was dismissed as head of Lancashire police force after being found guilty on 26 charges, including using his official car for private journeys and interfering in criminal cases involving his Masonic friends.