The former chief constable of Gwent Police said she was told by the force’s police commissioner: ‘I will humiliate and dismiss you’ if she did not resign.
Carmel Napier told a committee of MPs how Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Johnston verbally delivered a prepared statement during a meeting on May 23 this year.
It was the first time Mrs Napier had publicly spoken about her shock resignation and she told the Home Affairs committee she had no idea Mr Johnston had any concerns.
She said: “I felt that the tone of the document and how he delivered it was both menacing and bullying.
“I felt actually from the tone of the note, that it was a clear threat – retire or resign. Or actually, horrible words ‘I will humiliate and dismiss you’. That is what rang in my head.”
Mr Johnston also appeared before the committee on Tuesday and said Mrs Napier was hostile to the concept of PCCs. He told the MPs that Mrs Napier had told staff not to approach or contact him and that anyone who did would be subject to disciplinary procedures.
He also said that when the two discussed police station closures he was told by Mrs Napier that it was nothing to do with him.
The details behind Mrs Napier’s shock resignation last month came to light after the document of the May 23 meeting was leaked to the South Wales Argus.
Commenting after the meeting, Caerphilly MP Wayne David said: “I am deeply shocked and worried about what Mrs Napier has said today. It is vitally important that Gwent Police has a culture of mutual respect at all levels. Accusations of bullying and menacing behaviour must be of concern to everyone.”
Mr Johnston’s appearance is at 16.30.
Mrs Napier’s appearance is at 17.10