Paddick: I'll sue if I don't get my job back

Brian Paddick is threatening to leave the Metropolitan Police and sue the force for damages, an e-mail sent by the controversial Scotland Yard commander reveals. The 44-year-old officer, who was moved to a desk job after claims that he smoked cannabis, is angry at not being reappointed head of the London borough of Lambeth. He has told supporters it is "Lambeth or bust" and that his superiors are trying to "silence" him.

In the e-mail, obtained by The Independent, Mr Paddick says he will seek damages from the Met or retire, claiming ill-health.

The disclosure came as Mr Paddick, who pioneered a liberal approach to cannabis possession in his borough, was told by the Crown Prosecution Service that no charges would be brought against him over the allegations made by a former boyfriend.

The Met had decided Mr Paddick was to be put in charge of implementing a computer system that provides a blueprint for how police should tackle crime. But in an e-mail to one of his support groups he said: "Nothing less than being restored to my post as Borough Commander for Lambeth will do. If I am not up to it health-wise or mentally I will retire on ill-health grounds or seek a financial settlement from the Met.

"I am taking advice from employment lawyers on Wednesday [yesterday] in case the Met say I cannot return to Lambeth."

On the decision to give him such a low-profile, backroom job he said: "They are now trying to silence me and place me in a role of which I have no knowledge or experience."