Gwent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Johnston has admitted he told Chief Constable Carmel Napier to retire or be forced out.
Mr Johnston made the admission on BBC Radio Wales after the South Wales Argus published details of a leaked document outlining a meeting he had with Mrs Napier on May 23.
According to the newspaper, the notes of the meeting state that Mr Johnston told Mrs Napier: “In my judgement you have lost the confidence of the public of Gwent and of your officers and staff.
“I find your managerial style to be unacceptably dismissive, abrupt and unhelpful.
“You have failed appropriately to manage external and internal relations.
“You are deeply hostile to the very concept of the office of PCC.”
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales on Tuesday morning, Mr Johnston admitted the contents of the meeting were true.
He said: “The relationship was never going to work because one of the parties never accepted the concept of police and crime commissioners.”
Mr Johnston said morale in the force was at a low and added: “I had a civilised discussion with the chief constable, I thought we had an agreement that she would retire and access her pension and lump sum and we’d both call it a day.
“But obviously somebody has leaked this document to the Argus and it’s not me and it’s not my staff. I’m not going to deny that the meeting took place, I’m not going to deny the details in the Argus are not true.”
It appears to me that this is the start of a very long process to get at the truth of this entire affair.
I resent the fact, that without any public consultation the commissioner appears to have drawn far reach conclusions in respect to public confidence of Gwent Police.
Returns from selected focus groups, and, people with `vested` interests in policing matters which are generally subjective and personal, and `feedback` from second rate elected Councillors who also see the `personal contact with the commissioner` as an opportunity to extend their political agendas, are all very dangerous and incestuous judgements. There is an element of sycophancy and back slapping support in order to extend their political influences over the Commissioner in these far reaching actions.
This`firing of the Chief Constable was NOT done in my name, at least not at this time, however, if, in another two years of working together they found that by mutual agreement they should part company, then that would be another matter.
There is something decided dodgy in respect to the `haste` in which the situation has come about, regardless of the facts which the commissioner relies for taking the ultimate step he has taken.