Deputy police boss accused of 'blatant misogyny'

The second most senior officer at Merseyside Police discriminated against a "strong professional woman" who ran an elite anti-gang unit, a tribunal ruled.

The force's current deputy chief constable, Chris Green, was described as being "out to get" Det Ch Supt Emily Higham and had the "exemplary officer" investigated by the anti-corruption unit.

Det Ch Supt Higham, and her personal assistant Tracey Bocking, were then "unfairly" removed from their "prestigious" roles at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU).

The force said it was appealing the judgment and could not comment while proceedings were ongoing.

Det Ch Supt Higham settled her claim, but employment judge Gary Tobin found that Ms Bocking had been discriminated against on the basis of sex, and constructively, unfairly dismissed when she was "caught in the crossfire".

The tribunal heard the animosity between the senior officers began in 2020, when DCC Green was an assistant chief constable with strategic oversight of NWROCU.

Det Ch Supt Higham had been seconded from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to manage the elite unit, comprising officers from forces across the North West.

Merseyside had been agreed as the lead force for NWROCU, with Det Ch Supt Higham answerable to its top brass despite remaining an employee of GMP.

Ms Bocking said the experience had affected her health. describing it as a "blatant case of misogyny" and "abuse of position" by a male police officer.

Judge Tobin ruled that the body responsible for answering the claim was GMP as her employer, although the discrimination was carried out by Merseyside officers.

He described ACC Green’s decision to remove Det Ch Supt Higham from her role, which he had occupied before a promotion, as "inexplicable and arbitrary".

"We can see no other motives than the alleged sex discrimination", he wrote.

"ACC Green could not deal with, or somehow felt undermined by, strong professional women in his former leadership role."

The tribunal heard problems began after a meeting early in 2020, when Det Ch Supt Higham told ACC Green that she felt "suffocated" by his management style.

However, she regretted raising her concerns because after that conversation he "took away her decision making" and "humiliated her" at meetings by "talking over her" and "speaking to and about her disrespectfully".

The tribunal also heard she was bombarded with "excessive" meeting requests from ACC Green which clashed with pre-booked time off and childcare commitments.

The tribunal heard that in January 2021, ACC Green saw an "innocuous" email from Ms Bocking to her boss amd used it as an "excuse" to get rid of them both from NWROCU.

Ms Bocking had suggested to Det Ch Supt Higham that they use the code-name "Jon Rooke" to block out time in her electronic diary, to avoid excessive meetings.

ACC Green "took offence" and showed the email to Merseyside's then-deputy chief constable Serena Kennedy, who has since become the force's chief constable.

He suggested it amounted to "dishonesty", although no actual bookings had been made and Det Ch Supt Higham had not responded to the email.

Ms Kennedy was also criticised by the tribunal for the "extraordinary" decision to forward the email to anti-corruption detectives without ever speaking to Det Ch Supt Higham or Ms Bocking.

The tribunal said it was "concerned" with her evidence during the case, and Judge Tobin said DCC Kennedy's decision to "throw her lot in" with ACC Green was "clearly an error".

"This may have been to support the chain of command or because she did not want her force to lose face to Greater Manchester Police, or perhaps out of misplaced loyalty to a close colleague," he wrote.

Ms Bocking was sent back to GMP, but the tribunal found it had "failed to stand up for her" and left her "in limbo" as the grievance process dragged on.

She eventually resigned and took a job at the National Crime Agency in January 2023.

Det Ch Supt Higham settled her claim, whereas Ms Bocking took the force to trial.

The tribunal ordered the parties to attempt to resolve the case between them.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected]