Suspended Cheshire chief constable 'frothing at the mouth'

A "bullying" chief constable would be "literally frothing at the mouth" during angry outbursts, a misconduct hearing has been told.

Simon Byrne who was suspended from Cheshire Constabulary last year is accused of bullying and humiliating staff between May 2014 and March 2017.

His "erratic" and "dictatorial" behaviour created a "toxic" atmosphere, an alleged victim told the hearing at Warrington Town Hall on Tuesday.

Mr Byrne denies gross misconduct.

The officer, referred to as Witness C, gave evidence from behind a screen.

She said staff felt anxious and apprehensive because of Mr Byrne's "unpredictable behaviour" which was "meant to intimidate and instil fear".

In a statement, she said: "He was often red in the face and literally frothing at the mouth."

The hearing was told she was off work with stress after reporting Mr Byrne's behaviour and had started legal proceedings against the force.

She said: "I felt very vulnerable. When I had previously challenged the chief constable, I felt like I was targeted."

The officer described a phone call she made to Mr Byrne while he was on leave to discuss concerns about a colleague's workload.

"He was immediately very aggressive in his tone and raised his voice and was speaking very quickly".

"Despite myself, I started to cry. My tears, I recall, were of humiliation and a deep despair that I could not protect the staff in the staff office", the statement said.

In response, Mr Byrne said he was not "rude, dismissive or aggressive towards her" but added that if his voice was raised and, if his tone was "construed in the way it was", it was "regrettable".

Mr Byrne is also accused of "berating and belittling" the force's former Head of IT, Andrew Herndlhofer, over problems with a tablet computer he was given upon arriving at the force in 2014.

He said Mr Byrne's use of it was "bordering on incompetent" and described Mr Byrne's attitude as "completely uncompromising".

Mr Byrne, who previously worked for the Metropolitan Police, as well as the Greater Manchester and Merseyside forces, is accused of gross misconduct for breaching standards of professional behaviour.

The hearing continues.