Senior Met Police officer sacked for refusing to take cannabis test was paid ... trends now

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A senior policeman sacked this week for gross misconduct was paid more than £400,000 while suspended on full pay during a three-year disciplinary saga that cost more than £1.5million.

Commander Julian Bennett, who wrote Scotland Yard's anti-drugs strategy, was found by a disciplinary panel to have refused a drug test and sought special treatment from the commissioner.

He had been accused of taking cannabis 'every morning' before work and had been due to face proceedings in February last year but the panel hearing was postponed at the last moment at the request of his lawyers, before a series of further delays.

Bennett refused to take the drug test on July 21, 2020, but was sacked only on Tuesday night after spending three years collecting his salary of about £136,000.