WHAT’S THE STORY?
IN a comeback that Frank Sinatra would have been proud of, Sir Stephen House has emerged from “retirement” to become Assistant Commissioner of the UK’s largest police force, London’s Metropolitan Police.
He will take charge of disclosure policy and practice following the controversy over the case of student Liam Allan, 22, whose trial on rape charges collapsed when it emerged that messages which cast doubt on the claims against him had not been provided to his lawyers.
Police forces across England and Wales are looking again at thousands of rape prosecutions and House will superintend that operation for the Met, for whom he previously worked as an Assistant Commissioner.
A statement from Scotland Yard said: “One of his key initial tasks will be to co-ordinate the Met’s response to the challenges raised recently in respect of disclosure policy and practice.”
BUT HAD HE NOT RETIRED?
THE controversial former Strathclyde Police chief took charge of Police Scotland when the national force was established in 2012.
He resigned after three years in charge following several controversies, most notably the deaths of Lamara Bell, 25, and her partner John Yuill, 28, who lay undiscovered in a car near the M9 despite a call to the police from a member of the public reporting the vehicle.
He never actually used the word retirement in August 2015, and said merely that he would not stay until the end of his four-year contract in September 2016. He said at the time of his resignation “the time is right for me to take up a new challenge.”
HOW CONTROVERSIAL WAS HE?
BORN in Glasgow in 1957, House’s family moved to London when he was 11. He studied at Aberdeen University before beginning his police career in 1981 with the Sussex force.
He moved to Northamptonshire Police and was promoted to Sergeant and then Chief Inspector before joining West Yorkshire Police in 1994 as a Superintendent. His rise through the ranks continued in Staffordshire where he became an Assistant Chief Constable before the Met recruited him as an Assistant Commissioner in 2001. He would later be awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for his varied work in London.
He moved back home to Scotland in 2007 as Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police, this country’s largest force, and was always in pole position to become chief of Police Scotland in 2012, not least with his force’s undoubted success in reducing violent crime in and around Glasgow.
He backed the formation of the national force from the start, and at first won plaudits for his stance on domestic abuse – he insisted every officer be trained to deal with it – but then he started to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, notably when he had disagreements with the Scottish Police Authority.
House helped pilot the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act into legislation and seized on it to introduce what its opponents called oppressive tactics – police “kettled” fans at Old Firm matches and carried out camera surveillance constantly, which helped make the Act unpopular.
He oversaw a highly controversial policy of putting armed officers on the streets for routine incidents rather than special circumstances, and then had to back down on it. The national force’s policy on stopping and searching juveniles was also heavily criticised, and the final straw for his career in Scotland was the M9 crash scandal.
LONDON IS A HUGE TASK ISN’T IT?
HOUSE was once strongly touted as the next Met Commissioner back in 2010-11, but Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe and then Cressida Dick got the job. He has now spent more than two years as a consultant on policing and security issues before returning to police duty at the age of 60.
The scale of the challenge facing House was summed up by Dick who said yesterday: “There is a huge amount of transformation taking place within the Met and at the same time we are dealing with rising demand and big operational challenges.
“Steve has a strong track record in tackling violent crime, particularly domestic violence, knife and gang crime, both within the Met and then with huge success in Scotland.”
His many friends will wish him well, but his many detractors may not be so complimentary.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel