Iain Livingstone – Getting to know him: Iain Livingstone played for Raith Rovers for three years before he graduated with a first class honours law degree at Aberdeen University. He practised law in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London and is still a member of the Law Society of Scotland.

He switched careers in 1992 and joined Lothian and Borders Police and in just 10 years he was promoted to Superintendent after serving in Edinburgh’s West End and Leith divisions and in Livingston.

He spent a year in the USA, studying for a Masters degree in criminal justice, after winning a sought after Fulbright Scholarship, which supports graduates with outstanding leadership qualities.

In 2002 he was promoted to a high-flying post in Edinburgh at the police watchdog body, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, which oversees Scotland’s eight forces.

Police chiefs viewed him as one of the country’s brightest prospects and he was tipped as a possible future chief constable.

09 Feb 2003: Livingstone, 36, was suspended from all duties at Fettes Police HQ by an officer from the force’s complaints department who told him he would be the subject of a criminal investigation commissioned by the deputy chief constable Tom Wood, and headed up by a senior officer from Fife Constabulary who would report his findings to the Procurator Fiscal The investigation resulted after a WPC claimed she had been sexually assaulted by Livingstone. The claims surfaced after the officers, who were both employed by Lothians and Borders Police Force attended a networking course forming part of an Accelerated Promotion Scheme for Graduates, at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan three years before.

Livingstone, denied the allegations and told the Sunday Mail: “I am shattered. My reputation has been tarnished. It is a nightmare for me and my family. I will do everything to prove these allegations completely false. I wonder why, three years down the line, she has come forward with such nonsense. I look forward to the inquiry team getting to the bottom of this.”

26 Jun 2004: A hearing, chaired by John McLean, Strathclyde assistant chief constable, established there had been no sexual impropriety or intent on Mr Livingstone’s part and dismissed five allegations of serious sexual assault. But at a separate internal misconduct hearing Livingstone, admitted less serious allegations, including being in the woman’s room overnight after falling asleep. He was demoted from superintendent to constable, only to be fully reinstated to full duties in September 2004. No detriment to be applied.

Comment: The freedom of information act does not apply to Scotland’s National Police Force (it does in England) and requests for information about the 2004 inquiry into five allegations of sexual assault against Livingstone have been repeatedly denied.

The force also refuses to disclose any non-disclosure agreements which may have been part of any settlement of the case and, the information has been categorised as so sensitive, Police Scotland refuse to confirm if the files even exist.

In regard to the allegations of serious sexual assault, Livingstone was cleared of sexual impropriety or intent following an “internal” investigation by a panel of male colleagues led by Assistant Chief Constable John McLean.

But all incidents of a possible criminal nature should be first referred to the Procurator Fiscal at the Crown Office and the force’s decision to ignore protocol categorised the “internal” investigation other than usual.

The outcome of being a requirement for Livingstone to admit to a much less serious allegation of being in the woman’s room overnight and falling asleep.

So the public will never really know what happened that drunken evening in Tullianan College in 2000.

18 Jun 2019: Hope surfaced briefly when in a documentary, “A Force in Crisis’, Sam Poling investigated a crisis that hit Police Scotland, five years after the creation of the national force.

She heard damning testimony from serving officers and discovered evidence of misconduct and the manipulation of crime figures.

The programme revealed leaked documents which showed corruption at the very heart of the force and a culture of fear within its ranks and documents those at the top tried to suppress.

She probed Livingstone about the “allegations of sexual assault” and about him being “bumped down from superintendent to constable and suspended”.

He responded saying: “there was a set of circumstances in 2000 whereby at a social event at Tulliallan, at a training event I had too much to drink. I fell asleep in the wrong place and that was wrong and I shouldn’t have done that, and clearly I accept that. I was suspended, I spent time off work. There was a hearing convened where I did accept I fell asleep. I was cleared of any sexual impropriety. I was cleared of any level of sexual intent and at that hearing, initially, I was then demoted from superintendent to constable. I immediately appealed against that and I was reinstated.”

Enlightening? No. The public needs to have access to the inquiry, which was illegal in any event. View the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAglMxQDWM

10 Dec 2015: Senior police colleagues of Iain Livingstone, Deputy Chief of Police Scotland claim he lost out on the top job to Phil Gormley, because of a fear he would not emerge from the journalist sources spying scandal unscathed.

The choice of Gormley, who took over as Chief Constable on 5 January 2016, came despite Government ministers favouring Livingstone.

Holyrood sources say both Justice Secretary Michael Matheson and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon favoured Livingstone and the Scottish Police Authority’s five-man selection panel voted for him 3-2 after the interview stage last month.

It is claimed that Matheson was persuaded to give the job to Gormley because he was an outsider untainted by the spying scandal that has engulfed Police Scotland.

2018: Professor Susan Deacon of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) who is the third new chairperson in five years accused her predecessors of presiding over a dysfunctional watchdog amid another series of of mishaps. Andrew Flanagan vacated the role after he was criticised for conducting proceedings behind closed doors. He was also accused of bullying former board member Moi Ali after she disagreed with his decisions.

The first post holder, Vic Emery, did not renew his contract after a power struggle with Police Scotland’s first Chief Constable Sir Stephen House.

Asked about the problems, Professor Deacon said: “What’s the point of looking back? I don’t want people playing the blame game. That said, I do find it quite difficult to comprehend a number of things I would regard as basics just in terms of good practice were not embedded in the organisation, particularly around governance and organisation.”

The former Labour Health Minister also pledged to make the SPA more transparent as she attempts to turn its fortunes around and restore its battered reputation. She added: “It’s about how we reconnect and project to the wider world. It’s a public authority. “It has to be an externally facing organisation.

03 Jun 2018: The Scottish Police Federation General Secretary launched a twitter attack on an ex colleague: Following criticisms by former Assistant Chief Constable Angela Wilson, of Iain Livingstone’s bid to become Chief Constable, Calum Steele, General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) launched a highly personalised attack on his female former colleague on the twitter social media platform.

Steele, a Police Constable with an honorary rank of Chief Inspector due to his Police Federation duties also branded Angela a “useless buffoon” and wrongly claimed that a corruption inquiry in her former force Tayside “extended” to her. Steele, the General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) posted six tweets after Angela spoke out on the prospect of DCC Iain Livingstone gaining the top job as Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

The first said she was: “one of the most incompetent imbeciles ever to have held rank in the police service” and claimed she was continuing, “a smear on one of the very best”, adding: “You really need to ask who is driving this?”

He went on to say that Wilson had served in Thames Valley Police as did Claire Gormley, the wife of Phil Gormley who quit as head of Police Scotland following bullying allegations against him. He added: “Angela Wilson and the Gormleys have an axe to grind. It’s frankly pathetic.”

He also described Livingstone as, “one of the most talented, able, skilled and resilient police officers”.

Angela subsequently lodged a formal complaint with Police Scotland and the SPF. Steele was found guilty of posting, “inappropriate and offensive” online comments about her.

But he, “made no apology” and refused to delete the messages despite the finding of the investigating officer that: “they related to his role as a police officer and particularly his role as General Secretary” of the SPF.

He followed up saying: “We have asked Constable Steele to remove the relevant tweets from his Twitter account. Unfortunately, it is his own personal Twitter account and, as such, we are unable to order him to remove or delete them.”

06 Jul 2018: Scottish Police Authority refused to release documents on sex assault case top cop who wants to be Chief Constable.

Serious and new complaints against Iain Livingstone alleging an additional, “interaction with another officer” are being kept secret by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

The secrecy move comes as three senior Police officers including current Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone submitted their applications to be considered for the £220,000 a year role as Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

Material relating to the new complaints was sought from the Scottish Police Authority. The Authority, delayed by many months, releasing their response, which was “no” to the Freedom of Information request which bolstered Livingstone’s position as front runner for the top job despite an awareness of the grim details of a previous case involving 5 allegations of serious sexual assault which were dismissed by a tribunal composed of Livingstone’s male colleagues. (http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-cop-factor-scottish-police.html)

10 August 2018: Sir Iain Livingstone, interim head of Police Scotland from September 2017, was formally appointed chief constable of Scotland’s national police force after Nicola Sturgeon sacked his predecessor Sir Stephen House, ( who went on to take temporary charge of the Metropoliton Police force in London).

Livingstone became the interim head of Police Scotland in September 2017, with the post becoming permanent in August 2018.

Although officially given the job by the Scottish Police Authority, his appointment was approved by Nicola Sturgeon. He was seen as a safe pair of hands to take on the role, after the early years of Police Scotland, a controversial SNP reform that saw regional forces scrapped, were plagued by scandal, causing a major headache for Ms Sturgeon.

2019: Susan Deacon resigned as chair of the Scottish Police Authority, saying the structures were fundamentally unworkable. I’ve seen nothing to suggest anything has changed.”

Her call for a commission, an investigatory committee set up by the UK Government to examine issues of national importance, came after the Police Force was severely criticised by an industrial tribunal that backed Rhona Malone, a former firearms officer, who claimed she had been victimised and hounded from her job after complaining about the sexism of a more senior officer and former Assistant Chief Constable, Angela Wilson, calling for a judge-led inquiry into the corporate culture in Police Scotland.

03 Oct 2019: Investigation suggests sexism, misogyny and worse at Police Scotland in 2019. Angela Wilson, former assistant chief constable of Tayside Police with more than 30 years’ service, spent her career fighting for equality in the ranks.

And yet Angela is wary about commenting on policing issues because the last time she did, (questioning the suitability of Iain Livingstone becoming chief constable due to a previous allegation of sexually assaulting a female officer of which he was cleared, although sanctioned for drunkenly falling asleep in her police college room).

she was attacked on-line by Calum Steele, General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation union, who branded her “useless”, a “buffoon” and “one of the most incompetent imbeciles ever to have held rank in the police service”. He also wrongly stated on Twitter that a corruption inquiry “extended” to her.

Despite Police Scotland upholding her complaint and branding Steele’s comments “inappropriate and offensive”, he did not apologise and refused to delete his tweets. That this abuse came from a prominent male policing figure seemed to prove Angela’s perception – that women are still expected to know their place and keep their mouths shut.

She said: “It troubles me that people can’t speak out without being attacked personally. It does make you nervous about sticking your head back up above the parapet.” She went on to refer to two unsavoury incidents namely:

The toxic case of former Police Sergeant Kevin Storey who was jailed for rape and sexual assault in 2014.

One of his victims, a female colleague, accused senior officers of suppressing her original complaint and when she insisted on reporting it, she said she was bullied and forced from her job.

And Karen Harper, who had 22 years’ unblemished service who claimed she was subjected to a “black op” to fit her up after she made a bullying complaining against a male sergeant in Dumfries.

Her case that her career was destroyed by sexual discrimination is being heard by an employment tribunal.

Angela believes the fundamental issue is that the police system of conducting internal complaints needs to change.

How can any complainer – male or female – have faith in the integrity of an investigation conducted by the colleagues of those alleged to have committed wrongdoing?

She said: “There needs to be an urgent review of how internal complaints are handled to make sure there’s impartiality for starters. My view is that internal complaints are not always effective.

Another conflict, according to Angela and other officers who have pursued complaints against colleagues, is the dual role played by the Scottish Police Federation in that they are deemed able to represent both sides in a thin blue line dispute.

Angela said: “There also needs to be a review of how the federation represents two parties when it’s an internal complaint because at the moment they both represent the complainer and the person complained about and I’m not clear they can do that effectively. It has to be a political solution.

We’re standing here and this is not the first time these issues have been raised. There needs to be some political impetus behind this.” (Russell Findlay)

1 Dec 2019: Livingstone told the Scottish Police Authority a 2018 review of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) proved the national force now had robust procedures in place to manage undercover officers.

But conveniently the review had been written by Stephen Whitelock, a senior officer at the SCDEA, which Livingstone had previously described was a ” chaotic and potentially criminal undercover unit” and the events that were uncovered were “deplorable and outrageous”.

Whitelock, former head of intelligence at the SCDEA, was the lead inspector for the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) report into undercover policing, published in 2018.

He was number three at the SCDEA in 2011 when Johnny Gwynne, who went on to become Deputy Chief Constable of Police Scotland, was number two.

Gwynne and Whitelock were the two most senior SCDEA officers involved in the events that led to a former undercover officer, known as Mrs K in court, successfully suing the police after claiming she was made a scapegoat and frozen out of her job when she exposed the chaotic finances and management of the elite agency’s covert unit.

Both men announced their retirement in January 2019 as the judgment in Mrs K’s case was published but said the timing was a coincidence. Critics have questioned Livingstone’s Judgement.

Jan 2019: A burning issue: The FBI modelled crime-fighting agency once known as Scotland’s “untouchables” was shut down amid allegations of corruption and graft.

The Met reviewed the work of the agency and found that Police Scotland had most likely compromised investigations after piles of confidential files were incinerated in the car park of the former agency.

Officers at SCDEA were ordered to buy a garden incinerator and petrol to destroy paperwork after the unit managing Scotland’s undercover operations was exposed as a chaotic and potentially criminal shambles in 2011.

After the incineration of sensitive and secret documents had been revealed, Livingstone ordered a review, called “Operation Towering”, which concluded there was nothing more to investigate because the SCDEA no longer existed and Police Scotland managed covert operations differently.

However, critics say the force ignored allegations that senior officers ordered the immediate and extraordinary destruction of paperwork to conceal the chaos before the Crown Office could decide if fraud or any other crimes had been committed.

A Met Police review of “Operation Towering” did not share Livingstone’s conclusion that the burning of documents, against all standard operating procedures, was not a cover-up.

The Met review said: “The timely manner of the incineration, its closeness in time to a professional standards investigation into the SOU [Special Operations Unit] and the lack of any audit or record of destruction, throws sufficient doubt that this can be the only conclusion.”

The report was presented to the Scottish Police Authority board, which is responsible for holding Livingstone to account. One board member, Tom Halpin, said Livingstone must dispel any perception that he: “marked his own homework”. No more news on this one!!!!

24 Oct 2021: Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem MP for North East Fife, who joined Lothian and Borders police in 1999 before leaving 12 years later to pursue her career in politics said claims of bullying, sexism and misogyny in the police should be investigated by a Royal Commission.

In an interview she said: “I’m dismayed that, despite reports and reviews such as those from Dame Eilish Angiolini, very little appears to have changed or has been learned. A Royal Commission should now consider the issue of violence against women and girls to ensure that the corporate cultures of police forces across the UK, including Scotland, is included in that.”

Wendy slammed the SNP for a lack of “focus” on dealing with crime and justice issues saying that under the SNP Government a “litany of failures” has edged the justice system in the wrong direction.

She cited the backlog in court cases, the long waits for prisoners on remand and the distances individuals are expected to travel to give evidence to back up her concerns.

The Lib Dems were fierce opponents of the SNP’s decision to scrap Scotland’s eight police forces and create one national service in 2013, arguing that it would reduce local accountability.

Wendy continued: “It does feel that justice is less close to people and less close to communities, and obviously, I served in Lothian and Borders Police and I represent a constituency of North-east Fife, and there’s no doubt that I saw first-hand the sort of difficulties that are represented in Scotland.

But it certainly doesn’t make people feel that their justice system is close to them. When you couple the loss of identity within the police service and with that being removed to a national level coupled with obvious closures within the court systems as well and people having to travel distances to give evidence.”

When asked whether she has faith in the current administration to turn the situation around, she said: “I think I think the fact that we’re talking about the sort of litany of failures suggests otherwise. “We’ve now had 14 years of an SNP government and you know, when you compare that to the previous Labour/Liberal coalition, I think just generally you can point to things that the coalition did in a way that you can’t with the SNP government, because frankly, it’s not their focus and it’s not the reason why their voters vote for them.”

Ms Chamberlain’s Holyrood counterparts have echoed her concern, voicing the need for fundamental reform of legal aid funding and investment in solicitors to retain equal access to experts. Across all criminal courts in Scotland, there are 43,606 cases scheduled, a record high number along with figures from the Scottish Prison Service showing prisoners held on remand and waiting for their court trial date have soared by nearly a third since 2018-19.

21 Feb 2021: Compensation and legal fees due to complainants for wrongful and malicious prosecution could cost Scottish taxpayers up to £100m.

In a separate settlement, David Whitehouse, received £310,000 from the Police Force in compensation and legal costs and queried Livingstone’s suggestion to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee that only £75,000 of the payment was for damages, (that being the maximum amount the chief constable is enabled to sign off without seeking the authority of the Scottish Police Authority).

Whitehouse, who was arrested, locked in a cell for six days then pursued by Police Scotland and the Crown Office for months before being prosecuted for no reason, as part of an inquiry into the take­over and collapse of Glasgow Rangers, said Livingstone’s statement, “did not reflect the reality of what happened”.

Whitehouse and Paul Clark, a colleague at restructuring firm Duff & Phelps, have already received £21 million in compensation from the Crown Office and an apology after Lord Advocate James Wolffe admitted their prosecution, later abandoned, had been wrongful and malicious.

He said ” I received £310,000 in costs and damages while a colleague, also maliciously prosecuted, was also paid a­ similar amount by the Police Force. Addressing the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee, Livingstone said the sum paid to Clark and Whitehouse was below the £75,000 he was authorised to sign off without seeking clearance from oversight body the SPA. He told MSPs: “On the ­settlement, as I think you heard from the SPA, I never asked for any authority for the extrajudicial settlement that I agreed with the representatives of Clark and Whitehouse.

The reason for that was because it was within the limits of my delegated authority in terms of litigation. My delegated authority is to the limit of £75,000. “I was able to settle with Clark and Whitehouse regarding their specific claims against policing.

An additional unidentified sum was awarded as a commensurate contribution towards legal expenses, and the settlement was made and validated by the court. I am not allowed to say anything more than that in detail.”

Total paid out by Police Scotland: £150,000 litigation. £472,000 legal fees = £620,000.

Lord Advocate James Wolffe in an address to parliament admitted the prosecution of Whitehouse and Clark was wrongful and malicious and admitted that separate cases for damages related to the scandal were ongoing and compensation and legal fees could cost taxpayers up to £100m, with the bill being covered by the Scottish government reallocating resource that may have been designated for health, education or infrastructure projects.

26 Oct 2021: Moi Ali, a former member of the Scottish Police Authority, said the police force were warned they were “as bad as the Met”’ for violence and sexism against women.

She also raised concerns that police officers in Scotland are able retire with their pensions and gratuities intact, avoiding any adverse impact of misconduct investigations that may still be on-going, whilst in England and Wales, if there’s a gross misconduct investigation in process steps are taken to prevent retirement until inquiries are concluded.

She also hit out at the lack of domestic abuse protection for women whose partners are serving officers, saying: “A recent Women’s Centre For Justice report revealed hundreds of partners of serving officers were living in fear and unable to trust the police will robustly investigate.

It’s clear women in Scotland have fewer protections if their partners are police officers. It’s deeply disturbing. What we need is a truly independent specialised unit which can operate to investigate cases like these so victims can trust they will get justice.

At the present time there is concern that there is no truly independent governance or oversight with many of the organisations set up to do that containing former police officers. There’s little point in bringing in an outside force to do this job because the public have clearly lost confidence and trust in that process.”

She said: “The latest, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) report told how women officers felt overlooked for promotions and were undervalued.

One woman said: “I have been sexually assaulted at work, as have most female colleagues I have spoken to. I have also spent years being on the receiving end of sexist ‘jokes’ and banter, been asked questions regarding what sexual practices I take part in. I have also been told I have only received promotions due to being a female, and likewise been asked if I have performed sexual favours in order to get specific jobs/posts.”

It also reported that there had been 542 negative responses from officers about Police Scotland, some alleged being sexually assaulted and more than a third of women alleged they had suffered discrimination and almost a third said they had been harassed.

The watchdog report found the force had a “culture driven by fear and misogyny”, and, although there were changes for the better, it was still a “boys’ club” of “white middle-aged men”.

The report confirmed the previous year’s findings of former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini, who called for 80 changes to be made after finding racism, sexism and homophobia was rife in the force.

13 May 2022: Police Scotland pay out almost £1m over sexism case: Police Scotland has paid Rhona Malone, a former female firearms officer almost £1m after an employment tribunal found she had been victimised.

The tribunal heard last year that Rhona, who was based in Edinburgh, was a committed police constable who had an exemplary record.

It accepted evidence that the culture in parts of armed policing was “horrific” and an “absolute boys’ club.” One female officer said she was told women should not be firearms officers because they menstruate and this would affect their temperament.

The tribunal was also critical of witnesses appearing on behalf of Police Scotland. It found the evidence of a chief superintendent “implausible” and “wholly unsatisfactory” and described the actions of an HR official as “neither honest nor reliable.”

When Rhona raised concerns about her experiences she was offered a small pay-out on the condition she signed a non disclosure agreement (NDA) to stop her speaking out. She refused and ended up taking her case to an employment tribunal.

In 2020, Ms Malone said she wanted acknowledgement and accountability for the way she’d been treated and would have been an absolute hypocrite if she’d signed the NDA.

Last year she described winning her tribunal as “vindication” but said Police Scotland had put her through “absolute hell.”

14 Feb 2023: Forty-seven police officers in Scotland resigned or retired during misconduct proceedings against them between 2019-2022.

If an officer leaves Police Scotland, misconduct proceedings are automatically scrapped.

The rules are different in England and Wales where the Policing and Crime Act 2017 extends the system to former officers, so proceedings continue even if the officer leaves their post.

Last year, the Scottish government said it would change the rules to allow hearings to continue. It hasn’t done so.

There are currently 16,644 full-time police officers in Scotland.

In the period 2019-2022 Police Scotland received 332 allegations of gross misconduct and 1,182 allegations of misconduct against officers.

The undernoted officers left the service while the process of investigating allegations of misconduct against them was incomplete:

12 officers left in 2019
15 officers left in 2020
16 officers left in 2021
04 officers left in 2022

4 May 2023: Yousaf accused of failing to tackle “culture of misogyny” at Police Scotland

Humza Yousaf when Justice Secretary said that he would resolve concerns addressing and eliminating misogyny within the force.

In a public statement he said: “I will move at pace and ensure decisive action is taken on addressing misogyny within society generally.

In terms of some of the concerns that have been raised in relation to misogyny within the police force, I know from my engagement with the Chief Constable (Sir) Iain Livingstone how seriously he takes the issue of misogyny.

We take as a Government, and I know the police do, extremely seriously any concern raised against police officers.” Critics say that Yousaf’s response is “complacent and in denial, a view strengthened by female police officers being compelled to speak to the media in order to inspire change.

It comes as four women, including a former assistant chief constable (ACC), spoke about allegations of a “culture of misogyny” at all levels within the Scottish force.

Angela Wilson, former ACC of Tayside Police, said women currently working in the force are too afraid to speak out about their experiences.

She has spoken of her support for Rhona Malone, who won almost £1 million in compensation from Police Scotland after an employment tribunal ruled she had been victimised while raising sexism concerns.

Angela, who took early retirement in 2013, said her own 30-year career had been disrupted by trying to address the culture. She has since called for a judge-led inquiry into the claims.

Georgina Gallivan, who worked in an IT civilian role in the force for 20 years, told how her appraisals had all been excellent until she complained about a male colleague in 2017.

She said: “After that, it all kind of became ‘she’s a problem, she’s got mental health issues, she’s just causing trouble’.” She said the male officer made comments about her being “hormonal”, adding “it was humiliating in front of colleagues that you’ve worked with for such a long time”.