Bullying senior cop is in line for a £147,000-a-year job with Britain’s biggest force
Essex deputy chief constable Matt Horne, 48, threw a rubber stress ball, hitting a chief superintendent in the throat
A BULLYING senior cop is in line for a £147,000-a-year job with Britain’s biggest force.
Essex deputy chief constable Matt Horne, 48, threw a rubber stress ball, hitting a chief superintendent in the throat.
He pushed the same man against a desk and swore at a superintendent running the force control room.
Despite being found guilty of misconduct, Horne is set to rejoin London’s Metropolitan Police as a deputy assistant commissioner.
Ex-Flying Squad commander John O’Connor said: “It’s outrageous. The Met should not be bending backwards to take someone like this.
“This is someone who is a physical bully who throws his weight around.
“A junior officer would probably have been sacked and arrested.”
Horne’s boss, Essex chief constable Steve Kavanagh, refused to take sanctions against Horne in February, saying his actions were “utterly out of character and will not be repeated”.
But the next day the National Crime Agency, where Horne was on attachment, said it would not be renewing his contract as deputy director of operations.
A panel ruled he was guilty of misconduct, but not gross misconduct — for which he could have been fired.
He returned to Essex on April 1. But by then the force had appointed another deputy chief constable.
Horne is now working on a study for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, in a temporary role due to end this summer.
MOST READ IN UK NEWS
The Metropolitan Police, where he started his 28-year career, has been hit by bullying claims against its top brass in recent years.
A spokesman for the force said: “Matthew Horne was placed on a select list and may be appointed as a DAC should a further vacancy arise in the next 12 months.”