[Uk] Met Police: Cdr Julian Bennett was never sober at home, lodger says

A senior Metropolitan Police officer who wrote the force's anti-drugs strategy was "never sober" at home, a tribunal has heard.

Cdr Julian Bennett has been accused of regularly smoking cannabis before work and taking LSD and magic mushrooms.

The officer is facing a gross misconduct hearing over three allegations of discreditable conduct.

Cdr Bennett, who joined the Met in 1976, denies all the allegations.

He has been suspended on full pay since July 2021.

Sheila Gomes, a nurse who used to live at the officer's flat between October and December 2019, told the hearing: "He was never sober at home.

"He has to drink and he has to smoke. Julian Bennett was most of the time not sober. He was never sober."

She also claimed he was "in and out" buying cannabis but she did not know where it came from.

However, John Beggs KC, representing Cdr Bennett, told the hearing Ms Gomes was a liar who was a "gold digger" and "serial litigator" and wanted money, all of which she denied.

The hearing was also told Cdr Bennett was praised for his performance at work by senior colleagues including then-commissioner Dame Cressida Dick and her deputy.

Cdr Bennett wrote the force's drugs strategy for 2017-21, which set out plans to raise "awareness of the impact of drug misuse".

According to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Cdr Bennet himself presided over 74 police misconduct hearings involving 90 officers between June 2010 and February 2012.

The senior officer is accused of breaching the force's professional standards for discreditable conduct three times, honesty and integrity twice, and orders and instructions once.

The tribunal continues.

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