Paddick: Radical policeman who upsets the old guard

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Brian Paddick once told a police promotion board that his most difficult decision had been to tell his wife he was gay.

That disclosure, made in 2000 to his bosses at Scotland Yard, was typical. It was a big gamble that paid off. Mr Paddick was promoted to Commander and won the respect of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens. But two years on, he is facing a bigger challenge ­ whether he can hold on to the job.

Mr Paddick, 43, an Oxford University graduate, believes he is at the centre of a war between reformers who want a more pragmatic and progressive approach to policing and an old guard outraged at the idea of a homosexual policeman with power. For many observers the decision made yesterday to move the commander from his £75,000-a-year job to other duties while he is investigated for alleged drug offences and misconduct had been coming for a long time.

Mr Paddick, who was born in Balham, south London, joined the Met as a police constable in Holloway, north London, became a sergeant at 22, and chief superintendent in charge of the borough of Merton at 40. He was married between the ages of 24 and 29.The couple did not have a child.

Since he took the high-profile job in December 2000 as head of the Lambeth division in south London, including Brixton, he has made ­ and, some claim, courted ­ headlines.

Extremely confident in his own ability, and sometimes accused of arrogance, Mr Paddick has not been afraid to take risks. The officer's ability to "think out of the box", to express and implement radical ideas and to reach out to sections of society ignored by the police is what has helped him to win support and make enemies within the Met.

As Britain's most senior gay police officer he was always going to come under close scrutiny by the media, particularly the right-wing press.

Mr Paddick first hit the headlines when in July last year he set up a pilot scheme in Brixton under which anyone caught with a small amount of cannabis was released without charge. He said this allowed officers to concentrate on crack and heroin dealers, but it was branded by some as a "soft" approach to drugs.

Part of his reforming zeal comes from his experience as a sergeant during and before the Brixton riots in 1981 when he frequently watched plain-clothes officers on street corners stopping and searching young black men.

But the biggest controversy was caused when he told a committee of MPs that it was a "waste of resources" to arrest people with small quantities of cocaine and ecstasy. For expressing those views in public he was reprimanded by the Commissioner.

Warnings to keep his head down appeared to have been ignored when the disclosure last month that Mr Paddick had posted comments on the left-wing internet chatroom Urban75.com, saying that he found the concept of anarchism "attractive".

The remarks caused a furore and led to a second carpeting by the Commissioner after Mr Paddick returned from a holiday in Australia. The commander compounded the problem by continuing his online correspondence in the hours before he met Sir John.

"He just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut," said one source. Mr Paddick's supporters among the Scotland Yard hierarchy face a dilemma. While they recognise him as an intelligent, forward-thinking officer, who appeals to groups such as gays, young cannabis users and left-wing activists, he, rather than the issues of crime and disorder, is rapidly becoming the story.

There was no great surprise when a former boyfriend of Mr Paddick, prompted by a £100,000 cheque, made a series of allegations in two Sunday tabloid newspapers.

James Renolleau, 36, claimed his lover of five years had smoked cannabis on 100 occasions ­ a claim that Mr Paddick denies ­ and allowed him to smoke the drug in the couple's Westminster flat ­ which he admits. There is also a claim that Mr Paddick ignored Met rules and failed to tell his superiors that Mr Renolleau was on bail facing criminal charges. The newspapers also alleged that Mr Paddick had cruised gay saunas and had sex in public, something he denies.

Yesterday, Mr Paddick accused his ex-partner of betrayal. "His favourite saying was always, 'Revenge is a dish best served cold'. Some people might say that is what has happened." He added: "I believe it was an honest and caring relationship. When you have any relationship with someone like that for five years and then you find out that they have said the things that James has said, it is devastating.James didn't want us to split up. It was a very difficult split."

An inquiry, to be headed by an officer from an outside police force, has been set up

The majority of Mr Paddick's superiors at Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the running of the Met, want him to keep his job and carry on his work more discreetly. And if no more allegations involving drug abuse emerge then the commander has a good chance of surviving.